Berube couldn't say yet on Monday whether Rielly would be able to return after the Olympic break.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Morgan Rielly until after the Winter Olympics.
Rielly left Toronto's 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks with an upper-body injury with just over five minutes left in the second period. He didn't return to the game, and head coach Craig Berube said the defender would continue to be evaluated.
It turns out Rielly's upper-body injury has been lingering for some time, with Berube adding on Monday morning in Calgary that it got worse against the Canucks.
"I know that he left the bench (against Vancouver) and went behind and came back and tried it again, but nothing he could do," Berube continued.
"But this has kind of been a little bit lingering with him for a bit, you know, that we haven't mentioned. Like, it's been going on for a bit, this issue, and it's obviously gotten worse."
The 31-year-old has struggled at times defensively this season. He's tied with John Tavares for the lowest plus-minus on the Maple Leafs through 54 games at minus-17.
There was a lot of discussion going into this season about Rielly's strong summer, but could this injury have played a part in why it's been a tough stretch for the defenseman?
"Well, I think any time you have some sort of lingering injury — I'm not even calling it an injury because he was playing — but it affects your play for sure," Berube said.
"I don't think that was a big reason why his play (dipped). But, listen, I know we talk about his play a lot, but I think if you look at our team's play during that stretch where we weren't doing very well, he's just part of it."
While Toronto's head coach confirmed that Rielly wouldn't be back before the Olympic break, he wouldn't yet say whether the defenseman would return to the lineup following the layoff.
(The Maple Leafs' first game back is on Feb. 25 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.)
"He's still being evaluated, so I can't answer that question right now."
Berube did mention, however, that the break will help Rielly.
"The break will obviously, I think, will do him a lot of good, getting a reset here and getting back and healthy and fresh going forward here."
With the veteran defender out of the lineup against the Calgary Flames on Monday, Jake McCabe shifts into his role on the top defense pairing with Brandon Carlo. Oliver Ekman-Larsson will play alongside Troy Stecher; Simon Benoit will be beside Philippe Myers.
Despite Rielly's defensive struggles, he's still one of the Maple Leafs' top point producers this season. His 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists) put him sixth on the team in scoring and second among Toronto's defensemen, behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has two points more.
Rielly played on the top power play unit and, at times, even killed penalties. Say what you want about his defensive play at times, but there's no sugarcoating his importance to this hockey club.
"It's a loss for the team, him not being there tonight," said Berube. "Myers and Benoit will go in, and they're going to have to really do a good job as a six-man unit out there tonight."