Thoughts on the Leafs during the break

With the All-Star break here, I figured I'd share a few thoughts on the Leafs overall. Enjoy.

Rielly is the team MVP so far

The biggest bright spot for me so far this year is Morgan Rielly. At this present time, he's my team MVP. Yep, Willy is putting up the points, Matthews has 40 goals at the break, but I can't imagine where the club would be without No. 44 on the backend each night.

Rielly is averaging over 24 minutes of ice-time and is on pace for his best statistical season of his career (he currently has seven goals and 40 points in 47 games). He's accomplishing all this with a struggling partner in TJ Brodie, who has not looked himself on most nights.

It was also recently revealed that Rielly got hitched to Olympic ice dance champ Tessa Virtue. Good for him. He looks happy and he's clearly in a good place. Maybe Tessa will make her way to Leafs games and bring some positive mojo to Scotiabank Arena. (Cuz man alive do the Leafs need all the positivity they can get at this point.)

Treliving needs to sign Benoit ASAP

I'm honestly not sure what's taking Leafs GM Brad Treliving so long but he needs to lock up Simon Benoit to a contract extension ASAP.

The under-the-radar signing in the offseason has really solidified himself as a mainstay on the club's much-maligned blueline. In fact, in recent weeks, the Benoit-McCabe pairing has really grown into a duo head coach Sheldon Keefe can trust. No, he's certainly not a Cale Makar clone but he's big and strong, has shown some dependability and he can play those tough minutes in the trenches. Now can he do this in the postseason? That's another question altogether but it's clear he can provide a toughness element to this Leafs defence.

Keefe needs to consider Bertuzzi on the top line again

The stats aren't there. We all know that, but it's the details that make him such a valuable contributor. It took a while for Bertuzzi to get going but when he did, you notice him on a nightly basis. Keefe started him on the top unit with AM and Mitch but quickly bumped him off after a slow start to the year. But he needs another kick at the can on the top line. I'd be willing to wager Bertuzzi starts to take off a bit stats-wise here in the second half regardless. He's been largely snake bitten around the net.

Don't trade Robertson. I repeat: don't trade Robertson!

Nick Robertson has certainly had his ups and downs with this organization. From scoring a goal in the bubble play-in round against Columbus to netting an overtime winner last year in the regular season, Robertson has shown flashes of what makes him effective. He can shoot the puck. But he's also been in Keefe's doghouse from time to time and his inability to stay healthy over his career with the blue and white has many Leafs fans frustrated and wondering whether he'd be better off a trade chip at this year's deadline.

No. That's not an option.

He's 22 years old. He's played a total of 60 NHL games. He's nowhere near the end of his development. And maybe most important: he's cheap. In a hard cap world, the Leafs need all the cheap young talent they can get their hands on, especially next year when Nylander's contract kicks in and Tavares is still making 11 million for one more season after this one.

Leave Robertson alone and let him continue to develop. Period.