That's all fine and good, and he did very well when he played. I take back him being on Zaitsev's level for sure. That was incorrect.
But I see Rielly facing much tougher competition, and his numbers not being much worse at all. Especially when Rielly didn't have Zaitsev as a partner.
Thinking he's on Gardiner's level right now is silly though.
Offensively there's a pretty big gap between 0.6 points per games and 0.36, which is the difference between Markov and Rielly.
Even without Zaitsev, Toronto was outscored while he was on the ice although his possession numbers were a bit better, but still not as good as Markov's.