Morgan Rielly

[hockeygeek]

Very few players in the league pass the puck hard and flat like Morgan can. He has elite skating, elite passing and a lot of movement on his snapper. If he puts it all together he'll be a 55-60 pt d-man. If he doesn't he'll be Gardiner 2.0

 

[member 147413]

I hope he gets #1 PP time and #2 PK time

PP 1 - Rielly - Gardiner
PP 2 - Phaneuf - Robidas

PK 1 - Phaneuf - Polak
PK 2 - Rielly - Robidas

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Very few players in the league pass the puck hard and flat like Morgan can. He has elite skating, elite passing and a lot of movement on his snapper. If he puts it all together he'll be a 55-60 pt d-man. If he doesn't he'll be Gardiner 2.0

Is Gardiner a polished piece having just turned 24 years old?

 

[TMLife*]

Gardiner - Phaneuf
Rielly - Robidas
xxxxx/Franson? - Polak
Marlies

 

[TheProspector]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

 

[UllmansTiger]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

His skating is exceptional and, let's face it, he played for the Leafs. His draft position is one thing, his exposure to Leafs fans is another. Let's see what they all do over the next few years before we anoint a chicken dinner.

 

[Liminality]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

As the year went on he looked better and better, I think it was mainly a confidence issue. I think everyone is seeing those flashes of brilliance and thinking that's what he's capable of in the future but with more consistency.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

Let me guess, I'm assuming you rarely watched the Leafs this year and you see that he was a -13 and think he was awful.

Anybody that watched the Leafs and Rielly in particular could tell that he had a typical rookie season. Ups and downs, some amazing ups and some bad downs (that really rough game vs San Jose specifically when some fans were saying he should be sent back down to the W). Rielly has a bright future ahead of him and I'm telling you now he is extremely talented and will be the Leafs' franchise defenceman in the future. Not just some "good defenceman".

 

[pooleboy]

Let me guess, I'm assuming you rarely watched the Leafs this year and you see that he was a -13 and think he was awful.

Anybody that watched the Leafs and Rielly in particular could tell that he had a typical rookie season. Ups and downs, some amazing ups and some bad downs (that really rough game vs San Jose specifically when some fans were saying he should be sent back down to the W). Rielly has a bright future ahead of him and I'm telling you now he is extremely talented and will be the Leafs' franchise defenceman in the future. Not just some "good defenceman".

Anyone who watched rielly in the whl knows he was to good to be there. Its good to see some people don't think rielly is good now tho, keeps some pressure off of him cause imo his elite skating (agility in particular) his vision and his passing is elite. 2-3 years people will be praising his name. Gardiner is a good defenceman with exceptional games while rielly is a franchise type imo. Gardiner is a #2-3 while rielly will be a top pairing keith/doughty type (or even karlson while better defensivly)

 

[snizzbone*]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

He obviously has not put everything together (not many rookie dmen do), but the ability he has shown in flashes is ELITE. He has the mentality, work ethic, and skill, to be an elite dman in this league. The bolded makes me think you've never actually watched him play.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Very few players in the league pass the puck hard and flat like Morgan can. He has elite skating, elite passing and a lot of movement on his snapper. If he puts it all together he'll be a 55-60 pt d-man. If he doesn't he'll be Gardiner 2.0

IMO, Rielly possesses high end "hockey IQ/hockey sense," which is what will help him become a dman on a higher level than Gardiner

 

[rdawg1234]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

Yes because all skaters(especially d-men) do great in their rookie years?

some players have better teams to come into, other players just take an extra year or two to get better, every single elite d-men in the league now was not 'elite' the first year they played, Chara, Keith, doughty, Karlsson if you count him, Subban etc. mostly just showed flashes just like Rielly did.

With his high hockey IQ, good skating, elite vision and how good he was when he had confidence it seems clear to me he's going to be a top pairing d-men one day, not necessarily next season, but he's only going to get better

 

[diceman934]

Yes because all skaters(especially d-men) do great in their rookie years?

some players have better teams to come into, other players just take an extra year or two to get better, every single elite d-men in the league now was not 'elite' the first year they played, Chara, Keith, doughty, Karlsson if you count him, Subban etc. mostly just showed flashes just like Rielly did.

With his high hockey IQ, good skating, elite vision and how good he was when he had confidence it seems clear to me he's going to be a top pairing d-men one day, not necessarily next season, but he's only going to get better

What part up of F up place to play as a rookie are most not getting.....

Captain ding bat.....
Playing with every D man on a team that gave up the most shots ever.
A coach who held the reins tight enough to strangle him.
Then to top it off playing on his wrong side most of the year.....there was no D man rookie this year that played under the same circumstance....he had a great year.

 

[mulefarm]

Why are people always comparing Rielly and Gardiner. It seems many of these people are comparing the positives of one player to the negatives of the other in their minds. They both are extremely talented and have a chance to be top players in the league. I'm not sure if any team in the league has two young top end players on their team. They both have things to improve on, but there is really no need to bash either of them. I would bet when Nonis gets trade calls, they both are mentioned in the first sentence.

 

[FifthLine]

Very few players in the league pass the puck hard and flat like Morgan can. He has elite skating, elite passing and a lot of movement on his snapper. If he puts it all together he'll be a 55-60 pt d-man. If he doesn't he'll be Gardiner 2.0

RA Dickey?

 

[ULF_55]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

His skating is exceptional and, let's face it, he played for the Leafs. His draft position is one thing, his exposure to Leafs fans is another. Let's see what they all do over the next few years before we anoint a chicken dinner.

Yes, agree with both (to a point).

He showed okay, but hardly a ROY performance.

This isn't a slight whatsoever.

Lessor players wouldn't have made the NHL, even in a protected mode.

He played 15:34 ES, and 1:55 PP time. PK, much harder minutes, 0:08 ...

Some just want to jump the gun here.

A player penciled into the line-up at 20 is now being defended because he is only going to be 24 this season. If we just showed more patience, restraint and objectivity when analyzing our own there would be less backlash.

I really like the way he seems to see the game. As he matures, gets stronger and experiences more situation and gets repetition in those experiences I could see him move up the depth chart.

If he had a pro level shooting ability he could have potted at least (complete speculation) 5-8 more goals with all the opportunities he had. Great shooting position, no shot velocity.

 

[91Stammer*]

Why are people always comparing Rielly and Gardiner. It seems many of these people are comparing the positives of one player to the negatives of the other in their minds. They both are extremely talented and have a chance to be top players in the league. I'm not sure if any team in the league has two young top end players on their team. They both have things to improve on, but there is really no need to bash either of them. I would bet when Nonis gets trade calls, they both are mentioned in the first sentence.

That is very untrue. Duchene-MacKinnon-Landeskog, Trouba-Bogo, Pietro/Shattenkirk, Weber-Jones, Hall-RNH-Yak-Eberle-Draisaitl, Toews-Kane, Stammer-Drouin-Kucherov, Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kuznetsov, Letang-Maata, Crosby-Malkin.

Those are just handful names of forwards and defensemen who are elite players on the same team.

 

[Kadri43*]

If he had a pro level shooting ability he could have potted at least (complete speculation) 5-8 more goals with all the opportunities he had. Great shooting position, no shot velocity.

Is this something that is often improved at the pro level? If I remember correctly, Jake didn't have a great clapper either when he first got here. Now his shot is a strength.

 

[Duke Silver]

Morgan Rielly is overrated around here, and I suspect that it is due to his draft position. He really wasn't good with the big club last year. Brutal for long stretches.

I'm sure he'll mature into a good defenseman, but I don't see anything which suggests that he's anything truly special.

Maata, Trouba and Lindholm are all D that were drafted after, and put up better seasons.

Somebody didn't watch Maatta in the playoffs....

 

[ULF_55]

Is this something that is often improved at the pro level? If I remember correctly, Jake didn't have a great clapper either when he first got here. Now his shot is a strength.

I improved my shot after age 30 ... recreation league, so I certainly hope a 20 year old with 65 lbs. on me can do the same!

He should be able to improve on everything, like all 20 year olds.

It isn't as is only one team's 20 year olds can improve though.

 

[ULF_55]

Somebody didn't watch Maatta in the playoffs....

Aaaaand how did Morgan do?

Sorry got called away.

I think there is a great crop of defenders from Morgan's draft.

Obviously, too soon to call ... let's give it about 6 years!

 

[sniper81]

I think everyone forgets that morgan lost a full year of development

 

[NarcoPolo]

Who, in our organization (player or prospect) do you see the as the ideal partner for Morgan? Personally, I'm not seeing an ideal mate there. Somebody with size and defensive presence, and a good rh slapper.

I definitely see an ideal partner for morgan. Stu Percy. Both think the game at high levels and Percy is very good at calming things down in the dzone, projects to be more of a stay at home cerebral type. Only thing he really needs to work on is getting quicker, stronger, and more physical in front of the net. Obviously this would be a couple more years down the road.

 

[ULF_55]

I definitely see an ideal partner for morgan. Stu Percy. Both think the game at high levels and Percy is very good at calming things down in the dzone, projects to be more of a stay at home cerebral type. Only thing he really needs to work on is getting quicker, stronger, and more physical in front of the net. Obviously this would be a couple more years down the road.

Left with Left has been an issue.

Granberg is a stay at home, capable of playing well under pressure in big games.

 

[Gutchecktime]

For me personally, Robidas is the guy I want to see with Rielly.