Morgan Rielly

[Stephen]

He needs a veteran defensive defenseman to stabilize things on the back end. In a blue sky perfect world, imagine him with someone like Jaccob Slavin (yes, LHD) as opposed to Tyson Barrie, who will decide to pinch simultaneously on a play.

But generally, his panic plays, forcing the puck into traffic, not taking an extra second to assess has been a major problem this year.

 

[cannucky]

They've swapped places on the pp which is where the D can really pile up some secondary apples .

 

[Blufreezy]

Did they ever say what the actual cause was for him missing all those practices and skates or whatever when Babcock was here? Or is it still just "maintenance days"

 

[pulfordfan]

Great hockey player, get off his back

 

[CelticDruid]

Perhaps last year was the anomaly. Morgan Rielly Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

I'm not concerned with the points though, Leafs don't lack in that department.

I've often questioned his ability to anticipate or his intuitiveness defensively.

He needs a strong defensive partner to cover up for him, but he also needs to be on the ice with a left winger that has an instinct to drop back into a defensive role when he goes free wheeling.

I saw that from Mikheyev, but don't from Hyman who is usually very deep in the O-Zone.

This^

 

[Leaf4Life]

Great hockey player, get off his back

Lol. He's been pretty bad this year with his decision making.

 

[67Leafs67]

News flash. Rielly was never really that exceptional as an overall, even strength player. Sure, at 5v5 his offensive impacts, and transitional ability are great, but his defensive play has never, ever been good, despite some narrative that Babcock developed him into a minute munching, top pairing, shutdown defenseman by giving him tough minutes for one year or whatever.

Last season he hit a new level offensively, and combined with a bit of luck (shooting at 9% as opposed to his career 5%, to score more than twice his career high), people had him pegged as a Norris candidate defender just because suddenly the numbers were there.

Sure, overall, Rielly is a good player, a positive impact. The positives outweigh the negatives, but both are stark and obvious. He's not a balanced player, like say, Jake Muzzin, who doesn't particularly stand out in any area, good or bad. So, when he's playing with Ceci & Barrie, two guys who have the exact same weakness as him (preventing zone entries, passes to the slot, in-zone defensive play in general), he suddenly doesn't look so hot, and the weaknesses really stand out.

So, I'd say it is a combination of good luck last year setting our expectations too high, as well as Rielly's defensive woes being exposed by the fact that he's been stapled to Ceci & Barrie. Now, Hainsey was no true top pairing talent, but he was superior to both in defensive play, and I think Rielly misses that.

 

[trellaine201]

Everyone keeps claiming he’s injured. What’s the injury?

 

[Puckstuff]

I like Rielly but he doesn't give us Barrie esque decision making on the power play (shoots the puck into the shins of opposing players giving up possession when he should pass) and he doesn't give us elite defensive instincts of a #1 shutdown defender (can't defend 2 on 1's).

Even with his flaws, he's still fairly priced, he has a great transition game, he is a great skater, he's not brutal defensively. He just needs to not be the #1 offensive option or # 1 defensive option.

Barrie honestly might be an an elite power play specialist. Wow he's good on the power play and exactly what need. However, as we all know - a major liability on the defensive end. Can we afford to have a player who can only play on one side of the puck?

Rielly is better overall then Barrie but can't be trusted on the power play or to defend the others teams best guy.

Rielly can grow into a #1 d-man (he's still only 25) and Keefe can help him get there by working on things like 2 on 1's, decision making etc, but it is unwise to keep putting him in high end situations without somebody better. He shouldn't be in high leverage situations. If we accept him as our #3 defensmen with an elite RHD defensive type (like Manson) we will be in a much better position.

My concern isn't Rielly, it's the leafs getting 1) an elite #1 RHD that can play in all situations and 2) acquiring an elite #1 defensive RHD to play with Rielly. I also want Dermott, Sandin (cheap and controllable) and Justin Holl because he's cheap. I also want Muzzin he brings team toughness.

The player this team needs is Pitreangelo. He provides similar offence of Barrie, without being a liability.

I'd also love a shutdown RHD for Rielly, maybe Manson


Scenario 1) With Rielly, No Barrie.

Jake Muzzin-Alex Pitreangelo.
Morgan Rielly-Josh Manson
Rasmus Sandin-Justin Holl
Travis Dermott

This is the best scenario by far.

Scenario 2) No Barrie, No Rielly. (Rielly moved for LHD, Sign A.P)

Hampus Lindholm- Alex Pietrangelo
Jake Muzzin- Justin Holl
Rasmus Sandin- Travis Dermott

Scenario 3) No Rielly, Keep Barrie.

1) Jake Muzzin-Tyson Barrie
2) Rasmus Sandin-Josh Manson
3) Travis Dermott-Justin Holl

Not really a good solution.

The most optimal scenario

Muzzin -------- ACQUIRE ELITE RHD OFFENSIVE.
Rielly-----------ACQUIRE ELITE SHUTDOWN (RHD)


You can see how important a player like Pitreangelo is. A player like that could transform our team.

 

[Smif]

I admire Dubas' efforts in finding a partner for Rielly but I feel he's really been forcing a trade that wasn't the right fit. Muzzin needed to be a guy that had played the right side before. Barrie needed to be a guy that could cover up for Rielly when he jumps up. The best fit was probably Brodie, unfortunately. Here we are needing to spend more assets to find the right partner for him.

 

[Stephen]

Rielly needs a guy like Brett Pesce to just calmly cover for him in all situations, or they need to put some restrictions on him offensively.

Secondly, one major flaw with Rielly that has never been resolved to date is his inability to slow things down. His tendency to want to jam the puck up the ice no matter the situation is a recipe for disaster and only seems to amp up the panic. He has to have the ability to regroup with the puck, slow down and make the basic play when the situation calls for it. Maybe he needs to sit down and watch a hundred hours of Mark Giordano footage or something.

 

[HellasLEAF]

I'll evaluate Rielly better after the team finally give him a top quality right hand d playing partner. He's bee saddled with sub par players this year and is bailing them out and in turn has not looked his best each night.

His shooting though that's on him. A couple more finishes would be nice.

 

[The Iceman]

Thought Morgan really took a step forward last season. Expected more of the same this year. Instead he has taken a massive backward stumble.

Seems like he hasn't improved his weakness's at all.
Not good on the PK. Dropped to PP1

A $5 million+ D should either be PP1 or PK1. Right now MR is neither. Needs to get his focus back IMO.

 

[DarkKnight]

Confidence is a funny thing. Morgan is holding the stick pretty tight, doesn’t have that immediate decision making, he’s hesitant and unsure of himself.

Still a fan, he’s been a good player for us for a long time.

I’d separate him from Barrie, those two are redundant together, he needs a more stable partner, not a rover.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I'm often surprised when they say Rielly is 6'2", because he plays more like he's 5'10". He's not a big body type on D, and relies more on his positioning and shadowing off the puck than getting dirty (which I have said before is perfectly fine). He has great skating ability, is very good offensively, and is one of the better passers on the team.

As many have alluded to, he needs a stabilizer with him, who will allow Rielly to roam in the play offensively. Rielly certainly can't do that with Ceci, and Barrie and him are one and the same in that respect. I think Rielly is overcompensating for that, and it's affecting his play. I personally wouldn't have taken him off the #1 PP unit, but I'm also not certain why Babcock and now Keefe are adverse to having two D playing the point on the PP.

He's still our best d-man by a long shot, and it's easy to forget he is only 25. I wouldn't say he is a perennial Norris contender as he was last year, but he's definitely an above average #1 D who needs the right partner to allow him to play the game most suited to him. Keefe's system should allow Rielly to run wild and pile up a bunch of points, but he's being stunted.

 

[hobarth]

Confidence is a funny thing. Morgan is holding the stick pretty tight, doesn’t have that immediate decision making, he’s hesitant and unsure of himself.

Still a fan, he’s been a good player for us for a long time.

I’d separate him from Barrie, those two are redundant together, he needs a more stable partner, not a rover.

I believe that since Rielly and Barrie have been paired their total value to the Leafs has increased. Are they perfect, no of course not, but they are each better than when they were separated. Is TO doing better because they are together, absolutely, so what's the problem.

Are Leaf fans so success averse that even a winning team or winning d pairings need to be thrown away in the search of perfection or more likely even worse results.

I assume that the Leaf brain trust has many evaluation tools to determine the effectiveness of Rielly/Barrie together and the team results since they've been joined is obvious.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

No confidence in his offensive game is leading to poor decisions with the puck in the o-zone and he looks like he's forcing it to the point where he's not focused at all on his defensive game.

Under Babs earlier in the season it looked like he was missing having a stable partner (like Hainsey) .. Now he just looks a bit lost in terms of his role in Keefe's system.

Wonder if the injury has slowed him down too.

If you use last night as an example...he tends to pass when he should shoot and he shoots when he is in very bad angle areas where a pass to someone would be better. How many plays does he kill with that wrist shot of his from bad angles? I am starting to wonder about his hockey IQ sometimes...I mean my God ...when Holl is making 5x the smarter plays than you...something is wrong..and that is not a knock on Holl.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

Up until this year he was playing well above his cap hit of $5M. This year maybe just a bit below. In 2 years I'm sure the Leafs will give him a Ryan Suter deal regardless of how well he's playing

That worries me to no end...for $5M I can live with his weird tendencies...but if Duby gives him $9 or $10M...man that is going to be a mistake.

 

[hobarth]

If you use last night as an example...he tends to pass when he should shoot and he shoots when he is in very bad angle areas where a pass to someone would be better. How many plays does he kill with that wrist shot of his from bad angles? I am starting to wonder about his hockey IQ sometimes...I mean my God ...when Holl is making 5x the smarter plays than you...something is wrong..and that is not a knock on Holl.

Wow. equating Holl with Rielly, a little far fetched I'd say.

Rielly isn't having another career year, his play is more in line with his norm.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Everyone keeps claiming he’s injured. What’s the injury?

Offseason lobotomy?

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

Wow. equating Holl with Rielly, a little far fetched I'd say.

Rielly isn't having another career year, his play is more in line with his norm.

Holl tends to make smart pinches down the wall when the chance of getting the puck recovered is very high...Reilly tends to try and 'confront' an opposing player in the middle of the ice in their own zone when the likely hood of getting the puck is 5%. Watch a game closely to see what Reilly does. He has a tendency to do stupid things and make terrible decisions. Barrie is just as bad if not worse on the D side of the puck so you have 2 guys who have no clue what to do....that is bad no matter what way you spin it.

Oh...and I don't want to hear the same old tired trope of 'We have the puck in their zone when #44 and #94 are out there'...because they are much more likely to give up a goal even if they are out chancing the other team 10-5 because they are so bad defensively.

 

[LilySmoov]

His goal scoring last season was an aberration. He's good in transition, ok offensively, poor defensively. Same as always.

Been saying this for ages. He's a good puck mover, but he's not the premier OFD people think or hope he is.

This year is a special kind of terrible though.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

I've suspected for a while that his hip or back is bothering him. His skating stride doesn't look as good as it used to, he's not getting much power.

 

[hobarth]

Holl tends to make smart pinches down the wall when the chance of getting the puck recovered is very high...Reilly tends to try and 'confront' an opposing player in the middle of the ice in their own zone when the likely hood of getting the puck is 5%. Watch a game closely to see what Reilly does. He has a tendency to do stupid things and make terrible decisions. Barrie is just as bad if not worse on the D side of the puck so you have 2 guys who have no clue what to do....that is bad no matter what way you spin it.

Oh...and I don't want to hear the same old tired trope of 'We have the puck in their zone when #44 and #94 are out there'...because they are much more likely to give up a goal even if they are out chancing the other team 10-5 because they are so bad defensively.

My observation of Rielly is just the opposite, he has horrible gap control and backs off allowing the opposition into TO's zone too easily. I wish he was more aggressive.

Last night Barrie had 7 shots and Rielly 10 shots on goal, they were a combined +2, they weren't TO's problem defensively, the golden boy Dermott and Ceci were -3 each, there lies the problems. Dermott and Ceci usually face the 3rd and 4th tier players of the opposition yet they struggle to play competently. Many are looking forward to Dermot's ascension in the Leaf's lineup next year. why? 17 shots from them certainly does mean that TO is keeping the puck in the opposition's zone far more than it's in TO's and the results of that are registering with TO's current success, no?

Barrie and Rielly are doing their jobs and because they are TO is excelling, that's what we Leaf fans should want, right?

Bias is bias, results should speak far more loudly.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Rielly is a few good games in a row away from top 5 in scoring for defensemen. Haha this thread is hilarious how extreme the opinions are. A joke actually. Maybe Keefe plays him less down the stretch but I really really doubt it.

Likely he ends up finishing the season with 60 points and top 5 in scoring by dmen. Which is just a bit better than he is on pace for now. This thread will be fun to come back and read. Ha ha have fun overly bashing him. It’s B.S but hope you all enjoy it

He is a bit off. Thats as much as the evaluation should go.