Is Morgan Rielly a legit #1 D-man? As in legit top 15 D-man in the league?

[triggrman]

Some of these lists are pretty funny.

Then create your own.

 

[TMLeafs17]

Let’s see. In no order.

Doughty
Subban
Hedman
Karlsson
Burns
Josi
Suter
Pietrangelo
Giordano
Jones
Carlson
Letang
Klingberg
OEL

Off my top are better but he’s right there with the next group so I guess I’d vote yes. Top 15ish, but certainly a number 1.

The bolded I would absolutely not take over Rielly under any circumstance. As for a few other names on the list, they’re in the same tier as Rielly. Burns, Josi, and Carlson in particular are massively overrated.

On that list there’s only 7 I would definitively put above Rielly right now.

 

[triggrman]

The bolded I would absolutely not take over Rielly under any circumstance. As for a few other names on the list, they’re in the same tier as Rielly. Burns, Josi, and Carlson in particular are massively overrated.

On that list there’s only 7 I would definitively put above Rielly right now.

Sure bud

 

[TMLeafs17]

Sure bud

You asked, I provided.

 

[triggrman]

You asked, I provided.

And we’ll have to agree to disagree

 

[TMLeafs17]

And we’ll have to agree to disagree

Just to be clear, you’d take OEL over Rielly?

 

[Hugh Mungus]

He's the leafs best player I can tell you that

 

[triggrman]

Just to be clear, you’d take OEL over Rielly?

OEL is better than his support, on a good team he’d put up outstanding numbers.

Letang might be the better argument

 

[MightySelanne8]

Borderline, I would put around 10 dmen comfortably ahead of him, and then there is the next 10 and he is one of them. So I'd have to vote yes.

 

[Holymakinaw]

Borderline, I would put around 10 dmen comfortably ahead of him, and then there is the next 10 and he is one of them. So I'd have to vote yes.

This is fair, I think.

 

[Tkachuky]

No Giordano is funny.
He is the most dominant D in the league right now.

Forgot him...

The league forgets Gio. Not just you lol

 

[Leafs at Knight]

The league forgets Gio. Not just you lol

Agreed, he's still elite at 35 which is crazy.



Also yes to both questions. Is there a better dman in the league that plays with a worse partner than Hainsey? I'm curious.

 

[garyturner3]

He's a fringe number 1 Dman. He's as much a number 1 D as Turris is a number 1 C. Both kind of fit the description of their roles and even production but you won't win with either as the head of the charge. So therefore he isn't a number 1 D for me.

The current number 1 D's in the league

Karlsson
Doughty
Subban
Josi
Hedman
Giordano
Burns
Pietrangelo
Letang
Suter
McDonagh
Keith
Jones
OEL
Lindholm
Ekblad
Carlson
Byfuglien

Then you have those young guys who have potential to be legit number 1's but need a season or two more to be solidified with that title

Dahlin (already close)
Provorov(already close)
Werenski (already close)
Miro
Chabot
MacAvoy
Sergachev

Then you have those bordering number 1 D territory but more as offensive defenders who don't have a bit more pedigree to be considered flat out number 1s. Or defenders who are absolutely elite defensively but need to add a bit more offensive to be legit number 1's. IMPORTANT NOTE: These defenders can put up seasons like legit number 1 guys but they fluctuate and are not consistent enough to be considered established flat out number 1 guys but rather TOP PAIRING DEFENDERS.

Klingberg
Yandle
Rielly
Barrie
Vlasic
Seabrook
Faulk
Risto
E.Johnson
Fowler
Slavin
Brodie

and a few more

Come on man. I can understand somebody arguing the fact that Rielly may or may not be a top 15D because there's a lot of good d-men out there, but your Turris comparison is completely out to lunch. You're right that Turris is a fringe #1C, but using him as a comparison for Rielly is way off. The guy has never even scored 65 points in his career. I know it's early, but Rielly is leading the entire league in d-man scoring and is getting mentioned as one of the early Norris favorites:

NHL awards race: Early leaders for Hart, Vezina, Norris and more

When has Turris ever played close to this level? This isn't just a short sample size either. According to this article, last season he was one of only three d-men along with Doughty and Hedman to put up 50+ points, have a positive possession rating and play against top competition:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Is Morgan Rielly a True #1 Defenseman?

That's not an easy feat to accomplish and definitely not a crowd "fringe" #1D's are a part of. I get that some people have trouble putting these guys at that level until they see them do it for 5 straight seasons, but that's just refusing to accept reality until it's forced into you and doesn't make it any less true. Duncan Keith was an all world d-man for years, but for you to say that he's clearly better than a guy like Rielly today when most metrics for well over a season now clearly state the complete opposite is just sticking your head in the sand.

 

[Volica]

1D, yes on a good chunk of teams in the NHL.
Top 15 in the league? No.

 

[Connor McConnor]

Is he a legit #1D? Yes, quite clearly.

Is he top 15? I don't think so but he's close. The fact this caveat was added to the poll means I voted no.

 

[CP4]

Voted No by accident but I do think he is a #1 Dman, top-15 I'm not sure probably borderline.

 

[A1LeafNation]

He’s in the top 10-20 range.

 

[Pi]

If he isn't, I don't think there are many #1D in this league.

 

[lebdafor norris]

A little ironic haha.

He's currently sitting at 113th in QoC CF% for defensemen with at least 100 minutes at 5v5 and has a significantly lower QoC xGF% than last season(Corsica sucks and won't sort by it to give you a ranking).

QoC CF% is a terrible stat to use when judging quality of competition. Going by last season, according to QoC CF% the 4 toughest forwards, opposing skaters would have face on the Pens team were Bryan Rust, Crosby, Dominik Simon and Carl Hagelin while JVR, Bozak, Marner and Plecanec were the top 4 on the Leafs. QOC TOI is a much better stat in judging quality of competition since dangerous forwards would usually get a lot of time on ice regardless of their CF%.

 

[43Kadri43]

A little ironic haha.

He's currently sitting at 113th in QoC CF% for defensemen with at least 100 minutes at 5v5 and has a significantly lower QoC xGF% than last season(Corsica sucks and won't sort by it to give you a ranking).

There’s real issues with QoC CF% and QoC xGF% (namely that players playing top quality competition will inevitably have a lower CF% and xGF%, but will stay play against the top competition, thereby lowering both theirs and their opponents CF/xGF because of the competition they face; QoC TOI isn’t constrained by the same limitations)

 

[HyPnOtiK]

Anyone voting no here either has some serious lack of hockey knowledge or a serious bias against the Leafs. There's nothing more the guy could do to prove he's a #1D at this point. Maybe you could argue against top 15, but a #1D? There's no debating that anymore.

Anyone voting no simply has a pair of eyes. The answer is NO. Rielly is not a top 15D. If the poll asked if he was a 1D it would be more debatable, OP adding top 15 makes it an easy no

 

[HyPnOtiK]

Rielly is great defensively lol

Hahahaha

 

[HyPnOtiK]

Let’s see. In no order.

Doughty
Subban
Hedman
Karlsson
Burns
Josi
Suter
Pietrangelo
Giordano
Jones
Carlson
Letang
Klingberg
OEL

Off my top are better but he’s right there with the next group so I guess I’d vote yes. Top 15ish, but certainly a number 1.

Provorov and Ghost are easily better

 

[tacogeoff]

Yes but I think he would be a better forward than an offensive defenseman

 

[HyPnOtiK]

Keith, McDonagh, Ekblad, Lindholm,and Carlson over Rielly and Klingberg is hilarious

Lindholm and Carlson are a tier above Rielly. Why are you even trying to lump Rielly with Kling?