This spring, Morgan Rielly will keep wearing a maple leaf - only his new one will be red and white, not blue.
That's right: Rielly is going to play for Team Canada at the World Championships. He's one of five defencemen currently selected, and the only Leaf representing Canada at this point in time.
Rielly, 22, had his best season this past year, his third in the NHL. He scored nine goals and posted 36 points total, which weren't just career highs, but he was the highest-scoring Toronto defenceman as well - not to mention tied for third overall in team scoring, albeit with 15 more games played than Leo Komarov.
This year's World Championships are being played in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They start on May 6, so it's just under a month until we can see Rielly take to the ice again as one of Canada's defenders.
Joining him will be Cody Ceci, Ben Hutton, Ryan Murray, and Chris Tanev. Among them, Rielly is actually the youngest, but also has the second most NHL experience, with 236 games played; Tanev, with 295, is the only one who's played more than him.
Does this mean a potential leadership role for Rielly? That remains to be seen - but it would certainly be nice.
Rielly last played for Canada in the World Championships in 2014. He had a goal and two assists through eight games as Canada lost in the quarterfinals.
