Morgan Rielly

[67Leafs67]

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.

But who is that stable partner going to be? Cody Ceci doesn't jump into the rush & rove like Barrie does, but he is far from stable. The best option for Rielly seems to be to put him Holl, which might actually happen now with Muzzin injured. But once Muzzin gets back, that Muzzin/Holl pairing will be back together as the go-to shutdown pairing.

At least Barrie/Rielly have produced positive results as a pairing. Yeah they are both defensively inept, and high risk, but the rewards of their combined offensive & transitional ability have so far outweighed the cons, with positive differentials in possession, expected goals, scoring chances, and high danger chances. With Muzzin out, and them not being able to hide away from the other team's top offensive lines, that might start to look a bit different though. But with a fully healthy lineup, I'd contend that Keefe has found the best combination of our six current guys with Muzzin/Holl, Rielly/Barrie, Dermott/Ceci

 

[Teeder Keon]

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.

100%

 

[Martin Skoula]

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.

He'd already be top 5 if he stopped taking terrible shots and just picked up 2nd assists off the transition.

 

[67Leafs67]

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.

Are they though? They have now played 206:16 together at 5v5, and in that time, they've not only had more possession (53.22% Corsi, 52.78% Fenwick), but also more shots (132-120), scoring chances (120-112), high danger chances (45-39), expected goals (54.02% xGF), and most importantly, actual goals (16-10).

 

[Stephen]

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.

Well, if you're going to use offensive production as the only category of evaluating a defenseman, of course you're going to see all the negative comments as 'extreme.' But if you want to look for reasons why we've been in 8-6, 5-4, 5-4 run and gun matches, well, there's things to criticize.

 

[Erdinger]

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.

I think it's his defensive play that is the most concerning even if his offensive numbers come back up to his norm. He looks more lost most nights than Jake used to in the Leafs end

 

[Wafflewhipper]

I think it's his defensive play that is the most concerning even if his offensive numbers come back up to his norm. He looks more lost most nights than Jake used to in the Leafs end

He was never really great defensively so i don’t understand!

 

[Wafflewhipper]

He'd already be top 5 if he stopped taking terrible shots and just picked up 2nd assists off the transition.

He has to change systems and it looks like he is struggling in it more than most. He can be better defensively by moving his feet like he can and hasn’t done that all season consistently. I know he has faults. Damn good defenseman that is not having a great season. I have full confidence in him turning it around. This team is a complete offensive juggernaut and they cheat a bit to much still. Keefe will continue getting to know them and improve things

 

[Wafflewhipper]

100%

Checknout this article p!ssed at the media’s sneaky constant jabs about the Leafs. This article is pretty much on the money i believe. Its sad leaf fans just might be getting caught up in their B.S and believing it . This garbage is constant unless its a Leaf player getting run from behind and then TSN is all apologist for the league’s incompetence. So here is a good read on media misreading our team. Best team in the league since Keefe i have to add. Here it
Traditional Hockey Media Has No Idea how to Evaluate the Toronto Maple Leafs

 

[Wafflewhipper]

This thread needs “ appreciation thread” added to it and we afe good to go

 

[pulfordfan]

Looks like the board needs a new whipping boy since gards left.

 

[Al14]

Looks like the board needs a new whipping boy since gards left.

It's not a case of him taking over as a replacement whipping boy from Gardner.

It's a case of Rielly making too many mistakes, looking generally defensively challenged, and, possessing a poor shot from the point.

Even his wonderful skating ability, using it for fabulaous end to end rushes, has been somewhat mediocre this season.

Rielly needs to be much better to be called a true #1 D IMHO.

 

[Hockey Crazy]

He's been better for the most part since getting paired with Barrie... it will be interesting to see how the team decides to deal with Muzzin being injured and who gets the hard matchup. Everyone will need to step up a bit.

 

[Al14]

Delete!

 

[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.

In fact, controversial opinion - Morgan Rielly should be a player the Maple Leafs seriously consider trading. Of all the players we have, his perceived market value probably exceeds his actual value by the most of anybody on our team, and his contract probably isn't as much of a steal as it seems. Obviously I'm not saying Toronto needs to trade him - he's absolutely still a positive contributor, and you don't trade positive contributors when you're pushing for a Stanley Cup with core players like Tavares & Andersen starting to hit the back-halves of their primes. However, if the right deal came along, he definitely shouldn't be viewed as untouchable.

 

[stewpac]

Reilly makes just as many if not more huge defensive plays as gaffs, people can only focus on the negative sometimes. Watch any star defenseman over 82 games and you'll freak out over their mistakes. Reilly has been fine this year, let's enjoy our good players instead of focusing on all there warts. Assess them as a whole not on singular plays, reilly shows up every game and we're lucky to have him.

 

[I am Canadian]

I swear if someone just told him to take shots at the lower half of the net he'd be a superstar. He aims for top corner EVERY time and misses and rings it off the glass.

 

[LeafsNation75]

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.

It sucked that he had that great chance in overtime against the Rangers and could not score. Besides the obvious of winning that game, him scoring a goal like that would have done great for his confidence going forward.

 

[JayDog17]

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

I am betting on right wrist or shoulder.

 

[Teeder Keon]

I am betting on right wrist or shoulder.

I think it three separate injuries to the
gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[leafsgirl12]

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

He has been playing though a lower body injury for months

 

[Eye Test]

Geeks probably got it wrong but that’s pretty cool.

Hope my guy Reilly starts feeling and playing better

 

[LeafsNation75]

Geeks probably got it wrong but that’s pretty cool.

Hope my guy Reilly starts feeling and playing better

I happened to be watching it because I saw one of the categories was about the NHL and the contestant answered that question correctly.

 

[nuck]

how is there no thread on this guy? Best dman last year, terrible every game this year. Hurt? Ive never seen anything like it. WTH?

It will be interesting when we get more detail than "lower body injury". Still moves like he has heavy feet but the ice time doesn't diminish.