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Leafs' Morgan Rielly nominated for Bill Masterton Trophy

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TORONTO

Mike Babcock had to be sure he heard right that Morgan Rielly was up for the Bill Masterton Trophy.

“How old is he?” asked the coach when told Tuesday that the 23-year-old defenceman was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ pick. “I’ve never had a guy at 23 nominated for that.”

It’s just another sign of the maturity level of Rielly and many of these Maple Leafs, who’ve played most of the season with half their roster born in 1992 or later.

From a 19-year-old who broke in on defence with the team in its post 2013 post-playoff turmoil, Rielly became well versed in the toughest position an NHL newcomer can take on. Not to mention growing up in its most scrutinized market. Yet he never wavered in personal confidence nor optimism that Toronto will one day turn the corner. And after four seasons, Rielly is finally seeing the results on both fronts.

Logging major league minutes and contributing in many ways to their winning record to date, Rielly has been recognized by the Toronto chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the 2017 Masterton nominee for ‘perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.’

“It’s really cool,” Rielly said after the morning skate at the Air Canada Centre. “It’s not something you go into a year looking to achieve, but you just try and be the best you can at every opportunity you have around your teammates. We have lots of guys who try to do that.”

His perseverance was revealed early after a terrible ACL injury in junior held him to 18 games in 2011-12 and put his draft status in doubt. But the Leafs, whose table was then run by amateur scouting director Dave Morrison, liked what they’d seen of Rielly before his mishap. They stuck with him fifth overall behind Nail Yakupov, Ryan Murray, Alex Galchenyuk and Griffin Reinhart. Rielly responded with a 54-point season for Moose Jaw of the WHL and a world junior invite for Canada.

“Over the course of time, there is adversity for everybody,” Rielly said. “It’s a good thing to go through it. You learn how to deal with it and mature.”

The B.C. native immediately showed he could keep up to the NHL pace. Now his ice time has climbed to his current career high of 22-plus minutes a night and as of Monday, third in the league at 30.9 shifts per game.

He missed only 10 starts before this season and despite playing through a high ankle sprain this season, in which he came back much sooner than expected in just two weeks, he’s also nearing the 30-point mark for the second consecutive year.

Rielly, who recently appeared in his 300th NHL game, had his contributions recognized by the team in October with his promotion to alternate captain. If Auston Matthews doesn’t get the ‘C’ full time in the next year or two, Rielly would be a good second choice.

“I think he’s one of the best young players in the world,” Babcock said. “Obviously Canada did in the World Cup when he played on the Young Guns team. He’s an elite player and has a good engine. He comes with energy every day. He had it going really good until that injury, now he’s going again.”

This could be the tip of the iceberg for Toronto in award nominations. The Leafs have three Calder Trophy candidates in Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, while Nikita Zaitsev might be in the all-rookie team mix on defence. Nazem Kadri (Frank Selke) and Babcock (Jack Adams) will get some consideration, but a playoff appearance would enhance their chances.

LHornby@postmedia.com

 

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