Nobody is more motivated to put the 2024-25 season behind them than longtime Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly.

Rielly, who is the longest-tenured Maple Leaf, has shown the ability to be a premier offensive contributor from the back end, with career highs of 20 goals and 72 points on his resume. Last season was a much different story, as he battled with inconsistency and finished the season with only seven goals and 41 points in 82 games. He did come alive in the playoffs, however, with four goals and seven points in 13 games. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday after morning skate, Rielly said that the team is excited to get back at it and that starting the season on a high note is important.

“It’s exciting, fresh start for everyone and the team as a whole, and being at home is nice,” Rielly told reporters. “We just want to have a good start and try to get off on the right foot.”

Rielly has spoken about how much better he’s felt in practice and knows better than anybody that he needs to bring more than what he did last season. Keeping that in mind, he made it clear that starting on the right foot means doing so from a team perspective, not just for himself.

“You want to try and have a good start, and I mean, at the end of the day, the team stuff really comes first,” Rielly said. “So the most important thing is that the structure, you know, the systems are in place and you execute within those and you’re playing to win the game more than anything. First thing from there, you just want to be ready, you know, that looks different for everyone and it’s Game 1 of hopefully 82, so you just want to have a good start, do the things you worked on during the summer and just kind of build on those things.”

This season marks the second under new head coach Craig Berube, which gave training camp a different vibe compared to last season. Learning a new system from scratch is an under-appreciated element that takes some getting used to for all parties, and Rielly said it made a difference coming into the camp with that familiarity.

“I think it’s a little bit easier for everyone, and you know, that was the focus in training camp, just making sure you’re dialed and you know what’s going on. As we go here, we’ll make changes and adjustments.”

Rielly will be paired with Brandon Carlo to start the season as the Maple Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens to open the 2025-26 season.