Player Discussion Morgan Rielly

[HockeyVirus]

So predictable he was on the ice for the last goal and now people will act like he is garbage. People only remember the last thing they saw

 

[Ports]

I think management needs to figure out what a lot of Leafs Nation has been seeing for some time.

As a defense man, Rielly is lacking the size to punish opposing forwards. As a 'rover', he has good speed and mobility. His ability to join the rush and provide a target for a pass and wrist shot on net can be supreme. That also increases the opposing team's chances of an odd man rush on a bad turn over.

Rielly really lacks any type of a heavy shot from the point. His point shot is not respected around the league at all. His muffin shots from the point rarely get through as they are easily blocked.

Rielly makes a great #3 D on a highly competitive team. He alone can't make a team a Stanley Cup champion.

It just might be time to trade him in a package for a more complete, and true, number 1 D-man !!!


JMHO.

Agreed. The Rover position was eliminated by the NHL in 1911. Kaberle and Rielly would have been all stars in the 1800’s.

 

[Ports]

So predictable he was on the ice for the last goal and now people will act like he is garbage. People only remember the last thing they saw

What ? I have been critical of his play for years. He’s terrible defensively and a poor PP quarterback. That’s nothing new.

It’s proof that sometimes players learn basic skills at 30, maybe next year Rielly comes into camp with a tier 1 clapper

I’m not holding my breath.

I agree with your assessment. I’m just over the overvaluing of Morgan because he is/was a sentimental favorite and such a long time Leaf. In the harsh light of day, I see a lot of flaws in the player.

Dubas should have traded him after his 20 goal season.

 

[Ports]

My problem with all this is the excuses are so plentiful, the blame so diffuse, the circumstances so extenuating that by the time you get past all the individual evaluations, it’s suddenly no one’s fault. And in that blameless, stats sheet kind of way Rielly floats in that slipstream between accountability and completely off the hook. It’s kind of not his fault. He could be better. He looked so distraught. He’s here for life with job security champions can only dream of.

I don’t think he’s a bad guy. Of course he’s not. I don’t it’s all his fault. He’s had some positive moments over the years. But the whole relationship is so complacent. And I think we’ve seen the best of him. And it’s never been good enough.

Bang on.

The problem is he’s the best defenceman when he should be the 2nd or 3rd best defenceman on a cup contending team

On some teams maybe 4th given his defensive deficiencies.

 

[Stephen]

So lets not make excuses but lets look at what has worked.

Taking away the teams special teams woes (which may or not be corrected with a coaching change), Here are Riellys ES numbers and his ranking among all 82 dmen with 20+ games the last 4 seasons (per quant):

Goals per 60: .639 (2nd out of 82)
Points per 60: 1.827 (3rd out of 82)

Marry this with his +41 and the fact his team wasnt exactly a high scoring threat and you can a legit conversation of whether or not Morgan Rielly has been the best ES dman in the playoffs over the last 4 seasons. Statistically, he's up there with guys like Makar and Slavin for sure.

Seeing as the PP isnt all on him, I think he's on a pretty damn good contract too.

If you just want to go by this years team, only 8 Leafs had both 50%+ xGF% and a 50%+ goal differential:

Rielly
Matthews
Tavares
Marner
Nylander
Lyubushkin
McCabe

These guys rocked both positive analytics and outcomes.

Putting aside Brodie and Gregor who played limited minutes, 3 Leafs were not on the ice for a goal scored for the team the entire 7 game stretch:

Robertson
Jarnkrok
Holmberg

3 Leafs on the list of only 10 players in the entire league (239 players, min 50 minutes played) that it was the case for. Thats not good. Jarnkrok at least has the fact he was banged up much of the 2nd half but those other 2 are probably dead men walking. A goal or two here and there and the Leafs win that close series.

...or maybe grab a guy like Saros (who was available back in Feb.) and everything changes. Robertson + Holmberg + 1st + prospect as a rental would have probably got it done. If I was GM, he'd be a Leaf right now but the Leafs thought Samsonov was the better option I guess.

My preference is to restructure the entire blueline and not continue to work with Rielly moving forward. Put a few pieces who can be there as long term fixes that addresses transition game, PPQB, length defense and physicality focus on quality and don't be handcuffed by what is already in place.

Being on the ice for the 1-1 Bruins goal, the timing of it, and the lazy play in OT, the season ending presser really soured me on the player. I don't see the personal accountability there that makes him "Captain Morgan." I don't see confidence in a guy who is going to do whatever it takes to be a better player as an individual, and I don't see the conviction that he's going to do everything in his power to drag this team up in the big moments where he's failed in the past. He looks like a guy who is going to take a "we'll see" approach.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Rielly tells us he wants to see the core kept together.

Well why didn't play like they wanted it. They knew what was on the line. If there is anything, outside God himself suiting up for this team, that could push this core over the top I can't think of it.

They need a weaker opponent?

Except they already had that. They don't get a free pass for losing to Boston. They didn't win when they shoulda won so there is no leniency now.

They don't deserve any because they've already used it all up.

After the Washington series if someone told me these guys were only gonna win one round in eight years I wouldn't have believed them. The thought of them getting another shot is even more unbelievable. The leniency should have ended after last year's embarassment.

They were gifted another opportunity and humiliated themselves yet again.

 

[Tak7]

Rielly is ok
Overpaid a bit

Based on what metric or comparable?

 

[HamiltonNHL]

So predictable he was on the ice for the last goal and now people will act like he is garbage. People only remember the last thing they saw

He struggled all year.

Rielly tells us he wants to see the core kept together.

That's just supporting your teammates.

He knows it's not happening.

He knows Mitch is a goner.

 

[HockeyVirus]

He struggled all year.

He was ok all season with the corpse of Brodie on his pair. Once Brodie was moved off and even someone as bad as Lybushkin took his spot he was instantly better..

 

[HamiltonNHL]

the lazy play in OT

Morgan Rielly
Defense
Born Mar 9 1994  -- Vancouver, BC
Height 6.01 -- Weight 225 -- Shoots L


Selected by Toronto Maple Leafs round 1 #5 overall 2012 NHL Entry Draft

                                            --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010-11  Moose Jaw Warriors          WHL    65    6   22   28   21   6   0   6   6   0
2011-12  Moose Jaw Warriors          WHL    18    3   15   18    2   5   0   3   3   0
2012-13  Moose Jaw Warriors          WHL    60   12   42   54   19  --  --  --  --  --
2012-13  Toronto Marlies             AHL    14    1    2    3    0   8   1   0   1   0
2013-14  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    73    2   25   27   12  --  --  --  --  --
2014-15  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    81    8   21   29   14  --  --  --  --  --
2015-16  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    82    9   27   36   28  --  --  --  --  --
2016-17  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    76    6   21   27   21   6   1   4   5   2
2017-18  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    76    6   46   52   14   7   0   5   5   4
2018-19  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    82   20   52   72   14   7   1   4   5   0
2019-20  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    47    3   24   27   24   5   1   0   1   2
2020-21  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    55    5   30   35   14   7   1   2   3   0
2021-22  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    82   10   58   68   40   7   3   3   6  17
2022-23  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    65    4   37   41   21  11   4   8  12   6
2023-24  Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL    72    7   51   58   27
2023-24p Toronto Maple Leafs         NHL     7    0    3    3    0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         NHL Totals                        791   80  392  472  229  50  11  26  37  31
Current statistics as of 2024-05-14

for his can't slapshot on PP1, can't clear the front of the net, non-physical play ... 1 goal every 10 games isn't worth it. Not to mention his bad pinches and the odd man rushes he gives up. His legs look like Tavares at this stage.

Once Brodie was moved off and even someone as bad as Lybushkin took his spot he was instantly better..

That is true. It doesnt matter no one is trading for him where we win the deal.

 

[MarMarSab3]

He looks like he needs to shed some weight, he seemed slower this year and his skating was nowhere near his best. Still would like him traded with a different element in his place.

 

[ToneDog]

He looks like he needs to shed some weight, he seemed slower this year and his skating was nowhere near his best. Still would like him traded with a different element in his place.

Just another player who's game goes south when he finds the "one". Kadri, Marner, Rielly.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

He looks like he needs to shed some weight, he seemed slower this year and his skating was nowhere near his best. Still would like him traded with a different element in his place.

The Vladdy effect

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Agreed. The Rover position was eliminated by the NHL in 1911. Kaberle and Rielly would have been all stars in the 1800’s.

He and Mitch are ideally suited for da rover position which was eliminated from da game .. neither can handle da responsibilities of positions they line up in .. i think we are better off as a TEAM without both of them .. we can never play playoff hockey with their games .. and JT is just too slow to play C in playoffs .. 3 guys who make a ton of CAP with lots of playoff issues .. no TEAM can withstand it

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Just another player who's game goes south when he finds the "one". Kadri, Marner, Rielly.

If you've ever been/are married, you get "worn out" by those first few years of bliss. Then....

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Went from his best playoffs last year, looking like a bonafide #1 D to his worst playoffs this year barely looking like a #4. Maybe injury related? I’d be happy with somewhere in the middle. But we need another top pairing guy.

 

[hamzarocks]

Rielly for as big as he is is jist to damn soft at times

He is like 225 lbs. That is a truck right there.

He should be better at rubbing players of pucks on the boards, clearing the crease, protecting goalies line of vision, and delivering big hits at key moments

He needs to adapt his play style. He should slim down a little, get his speed back to top level, and be working on his shot.

He has the tools to be #2D on a cup winning team or even a #1D on a team with three # 2s.

I would keep him one more year and see how he plays. If he has just an alright year, I make him available at next years draft

 

[mjd1001]

Lol @ Trouba. He's been largely a disappointment and Rangers fans want to move off his deal in an ideal world. You guys complain that Rielly didn't produce enough yet Trouba barely produces for even more money and isn't even that good defensively, he's still living off the reputation of his career year in Winnipeg. Werenski isn't worth 2 mil more at all either.

I'm not comparing Trouba now to Trouba from a few years ago. I'm comparing Trouba to Reilly...I'll still take Trouba

 

[WTFMAN99]

I would stop saying we were goalied if we had a goalie.

Hell, try this thought experiment:

The Leafs have been a top 10 team the last 4 years. We have rolled with Campbellx2 and Samsonovx2.

Can you name a worse starter on the 36 other teams than the goalies the Leafs have rolled with the last 4 years?

The fact that is even a hard question should tell us everything.

I'ts easy to get goalied (especially in the goalie rich Atlantic over that stretch) when your goalies are barely NHLers.

Well, I am not high on Skinner & Pickard is starting tonight

Arturs Silovs has handled the reigns fairly well for Vancouver too.

 

[1specter]

I'm not comparing Trouba now to Trouba from a few years ago. I'm comparing Trouba to Reilly...I'll still take Trouba

Rielly is better than Trouba. Trouba is the most overrated D in the NHL and that contract sucks. It just doesn't get as much attention because they have Adam Fox.

 

[Zybalto]

Well, I am not high on Skinner & Pickard is starting tonight

Arturs Silovs has handled the reigns fairly well for Vancouver too.

Hey, firstly your talking about another team that might have made a ton more noise with playoff goaltending the last decade.

Silov has been good but only in comparison to the guy in the other net (sound familiar).

With Woll in net, this team finally saw what it was like to have playoff goaltending. Good numbers + big timely saves. It's not hard to imagine we would be talking about how exciting the Leafs second round is if he had started the first round (and had better injury luck to be sure).

In the end it was just another series in which we could say "flip the goalies and we win" (as the majoirty of recent playoff series have been) and Boston even had last years Vezina winner as the friggin backup.

We're not a team like the Panthers, Bruins, Rangers, Stars, etc. who have proven starting goaltending and can actually make obvious roster decisions. Until that happens, this team is going to make nothing but mistakes if they arnt focusing on the most important position in the playoffs. Even the folks who try to amplify the Avs team as somehow doing it with supposedly "bad" goaltending dont take into account former All-star and WC gold medalist Kuemper is light years better than any starter weve had the last 4 seasons. He made the big saves at the right times too.

 

[IPS]

Even the folks who try to amplify the Avs team as somehow doing it with supposedly "bad" goaltending dont take into account former All-star and WC gold medalist Kuemper is light years better than any starter weve had the last 4 seasons.

Stop right there.

Colorado is far ahead of us and has accomplished much more because their core shows up big in the playoffs and ours doesn't. It is absolutely not goaltending that's the difference, go look at Colorado's stars production in the postseason then go look at ours, it's chasms apart.

Goaltending is a minor footnote in the massive difference between us and Colorado.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Stop right there.

Colorado is far ahead of us and has accomplished much more because their core shows up big in the playoffs and ours doesn't. It is absolutely not goaltending that's the difference, go look at Colorado's stars production in the postseason then go look at ours, it's chasms apart.

Goaltending is a minor footnote in the massive difference between us and Colorado.

It's never the Core Fore's fault. Come on man!

 

[Zybalto]

Stop right there.

Colorado is far ahead of us and has accomplished much more because their core shows up big in the playoffs and ours doesn't. It is absolutely not goaltending that's the difference, go look at Colorado's stars production in the postseason then go look at ours, it's chasms apart.

Goaltending is a minor footnote in the massive difference between us and Colorado.

Your spinning off in another direction. I didnt bring up the Avs (who are flailing out of the playoffs ATM due to goaltending differential) to compare them to the Leafs in that way.

But since we're in the Rielly thread, like I said before, Rielly has the same awful PP numbers as the rest of the gang but his direct comparables at even strength would include Cale Makar except Rielly has better defensive numbers. Rielly is easily one of the most valuable playoff dmen at ES the last half decade.


its just strange to me and Ive been warning about this for years now.

1. Everyone agrees goaltending is maybe the most important thing in the playoffs.
2. Campbell, Campbell, Samsonov, Samsonov vs. Price, Vasy, Bobronski, Swayman in the playoffs leads to Leafs losing. (duh)
3. Everyone starts blaming everything else.

We run two goalies that have been kicked out of the league for barely being NHLers against some of the best goalies in hockey and we expect to win? Hell, Samsonov has been benched over the last 2 playoff runs and doesnt seem to take any heat. Any other team fanbase/media and they would at least place a good portion of the blame on goaltending if not all of it. Hell, the only other goalie we've played outside of the two playoff starters we've had is an injury prone rookie who has put up incredible numbers and never taken an L in the playoffs.

If the fanbase continues to wish to destroy the core, thats fine but the big problem there is that they have been the only ones keeping this team in tight series and maybe certain folks around here will finally get their wish for the team to not even make the playoffs next year. (although they might not want it that way after the changes but will get it)

 

[mclaren55]

People ragging on Rielly like anything this playoffs was his fault. People need to watch other teams to understand what we have in Morgan. He may not be a clear cut #1 D, but he is certainly a top pairing Dman.

Tell me wise ones, who in UFA are we replacing this guy with? Once he is gone, you are all going to be clamoring for a PMD like him. We literally have NO ONE in the system that can replace what he does.

This place is so predictable.