Over the first few weeks of the NHL season, it seems that the Toronto Maple Leafs have a new number one defenseman taking over the mantle from Morgan Rielly. The Toronto Maple Leafs have put their faith in Morgan Rielly as the top option on defense for several seasons now. To this point, he has been a good but not elite number-one defenseman in the NHL. This season under head coach Craig Berube it seems there is a changing of the guard with Morgan Rielly taking a back seat to new Maple Leaf Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Since taking over as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs Craig Berube has made several changes to incorporate new additions into the lineup. To this point in the season, one of the best additions made of the summer has been defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson who leads all Maple Leafs defensemen in scoring. <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/toronto-maple-leafs/leafs-bolster-blueline-signing-oliver-ekman-larsson-to-massive-deal' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Ekman-Larsson joined the Maple Leafs after being bought out by the Vancouver Canucks this summer.</a> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/millerthegoat9/status/1848546161394913679'> </a></blockquote></div> Early in the season, Craig Berube saw how well Oliver Ekman-Larsson was playing and decided to give him top powerplay unit time. Since then Oliver Ekman-Larsson has looked like his prime self and one of the best defensemen in the NHL to begin the season. This has meant that former top defenseman Morgan Rielly has taken a back seat and a big step back. Through 7 games this season Morgan Rielly has just 2 points. So far this season the Maple Leafs seem to be relying on new additions like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl/news/toronto-maple-leafs-likely-to-sign-chris-tanev-on-july-1st' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'> who the Maple Leafs also signed to a major contract.</a> <h3>Can Oliver Ekman-Larsson be the Toronto Maple Leafs new number one defenseman</h3> Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs are going up against the St. Louis Blues. During the game, Oliver Ekman Larsson further cemented his place as the Maple Leafs' new number-one defenseman by scoring his first goal with the team. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1849606475183747329'> </a></blockquote></div> As of now, it is still early enough in the season that things could change by the time the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around. For now, though Oliver Ekman-Larsson is Craig Berube's guy and will continue to get all of the top minutes. If this continues deep into the season there could be a real discussion about Morgan Rielly's future with the Toronto Maple Leafs. At 30 years old Morgan Rielly still has a lot of potential value. If he clearly falls behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson and starts struggling to produce offensively in his limited role then a potential trade could be looked at for Morgan Rielly. As of now, <a href='https://puckpedia.com/player/morgan-rielly' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Rielly's $7,500,000 salary cap hit is a big chunk of the Toronto Maple Leafs salary cap.</a> If the Maple Leafs believe that the future of their top four is solid with players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev, and Jake McCabe then the Maple Leafs could use Morgan Rielly's contract to get help elsewhere. At the moment the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely look to keep Morgan Rielly as they have struggled to find offensive production on defense in past years. Having both Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Rielly clicking and producing would be fantastic if Craig Berube could get both players going at the same time. With Oliver Ekman-Larsson being the older player of the two the Maple Leafs likely will play it safe and try to keep both players.