On the first day of Maple Leafs training camp, Morgan Rielly may have dropped the quote of the day when discussing the team’s goal for the season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs come into training camp with a chip on their shoulder after another first round loss to the Boston Bruins in last season’s playoffs. The Bruins finished the year with more points, but on paper, the Maple Leafs were almost certainly the superior team, even by David Pastrnak’s admission, which made the loss sting a little bit extra.

For Morgan Rielly, there is only one goal in mind this season, and anything short of accomplishing that goal will be deemed a failure in his mind. He made as much very clear with his comments to the Toronto media on Wednesday.
“To a degree, it’s Stanley Cup or bust. I think that’s how our group feels. Anything short of that will be a failure.”
-Rielly on the team’s goal this season

Rielly also touched on the acquisition and subsequent signing of Christopher Tanev, whom he believes will be a real difference-maker in Toronto.
“When we (acquired) him, I processed that I might be playing with him. But the over-arching thing is that he makes our team better… Any team that adds Chris Tanev to their D core becomes immediately stronger.”

1967 was a long time ago. The Leafs have iced some pretty solid teams over the years, so the fact that the drought has persisted as long as it has is certainly shocking. However, enduring these failures in recent years has left a sour taste in the mouths of Rielly, as well as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares.

Will this chips on their shoulders be enough to help propel the Leafs to a Stanley Cup victory in 2024-25? That remains to be seen, but with a new coach, a new captain and some solid additions on the blueline, the chances might be better than they’ve ever been for this group.