Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe will rest Morgan Rielly as he continues to rotate defensemen with each game.

SUNRISE, Fla — It’s Morgan Rielly’s turn to take a break.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that his top defenseman in terms of average ice time will rest as his club visits the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

"That will allow us to use the other seven guys and try them in some different spots," Keefe said. "I just think it's important here, especially with a busy schedule, Rielly in particular is coming off playing five games in nine nights so I think having the health and depth on defense allows us to do some different things at this portion of the schedule."

Last week, Keefe mentioned he had a plan with his defensemen to give them scheduled days off as he looked to get others into the lineup. Mark Giordano was one of the first to go through it when he was a healthy scratch for the team's 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

It wasn't clear at the time if the plan would include every single defenseman on the club, but so far it has, with the exception of Jake McCabe, who has played in every game for the Leafs since the trade deadline passed on Mar. 3.

"Having the health and depth on defense allows us to do different things at this point in the schedule while keeping a lot of guys involved," Keefe said.

Rielly has averaged a team-high 22 minutes of ice time per night. He missed nearly six weeks of action due to a knee injury that spanned from late November to the end of December.

Toronto also elected to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen instead of dressing Wayne Simmonds. Bobby McMann injured his knee during the team's 7-2 loss against the New York Islanders on Tuesday and is not available.

TJ Brodie will draw back into the lineup. He missed Tuesday's game against the Islanders after blocking a shot on Saturday. 

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