After spending years with the organization previously, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman sees an advantage in bringing Jim Hiller back as head coach following his stint as an assistant.
There has been a flux of changes to the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer. One of the biggest alterations in the organization was to the coaching staff.
After letting go of Craig Berube, the Maple Leafs hired Jim Hiller in mid-June. It was a bit of a surprising hire given Hiller's middling stint with the Los Angeles Kings for parts of the past three seasons.
Nonetheless, he was named the 41st coach in the team's history, and Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly sees a clear advantage in that. And since being hired, Hiller has connected with Rielly.
"It's been great," Rielly said at the Hockey Night in Brampton charity event. "I think, obviously, he's in a new role this time around. So there's been a lot of new stuff in our conversations. But, I mean, lots of the same."
Before being hired by the Kings as the team's head coach in 2023-24, he spent several years as an NHL assistant coach. That includes four years behind the bench with Toronto as an assistant bench boss.
During that stretch, Hiller coached multiple core members of the current Maple Leafs team, including Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Rielly.
"I think that there's trust there that he's built with the players that he's had the first time around," Rielly said. "And so I think that's helping him. I mean, he knows the staff and the guys. So I think that's going to help."
Rielly is going into his 14th NHL season with the Maple Leafs and is looking to shake off a rough couple of seasons from the past two years. The veteran defenseman is coming off one of his least impressive campaigns, particularly in the department of offensive production.
In 2025-26, Rielly posted 11 goals and 36 points, which is the lowest point total he has produced since the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He'll be looking to be an effective scorer from the back end once again, and having a familiar face behind the bench seems to have a positive influence on Rielly.
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