I think he will be an slightly above average 2nd pairing dman. Besides his straightaway speed there is nothing that he shows he is above average in.
1. Passing - not a lot of vision...he can distribute ok if not under pressure...but not threading a needle (saucer pass, through legs and sticks, hail Mary players out of our zone to streaking forwards)
2. Shot - not much to speak of - well below average slap shot...in fact I don't remember any goals he has scored on a slap shot; his shot working the point mostly consists of flicking the puck in hopes of it hitting some legs or getting deflected in by accident. I don't know how you become a labeled "offensive" dman without a slap shot. Almost every top scoring dman in the NHL has some kind of slap shot (Karlsson, Subban, Weber, Suter, Keith, Josi, Doughty, Giordano, OEL) all have some semblance of an ability to one time it or get a good slap shot at the net.
3. Skating - decent in a straight line but he is no powerhouse. When skating with the puck however he mostly skates himself to the side where he usually gets squeezed out or he is about to be checked so he throws it blindly in the slot in hopes of someone getting to it.
4. Stick handling -- below average..in fact it is one of his weak points. He will never fool anybody with his stick handling-- mostly just pushes the puck forward and a few 2 feet back and forth movements. That play where he beat 2 Oilers including a toe drag and then roofed it is like a one time deal...besides that rush I have never ever seen him fool anybody with stick work.
5. Defensive play? His poor habits of lunging at the puck trying to break up a play results in many odd man rushes for the other team. He is not aware of how to close gaps or when to be aggressive in the puck retrieval process. His worse habits by far have to do with puck watching in his own zone and not taking out the main in front of the net. I have given many examples of this in the past; I have counted at least 5 games where he was caught like a bystander watching the puck being passed around and the guy right beside him will score totally untouched. This guy will never be a defensive minded d man. I believe if you can't master this simple important task by the time you are in the league 4 years...you just don't have the right mindset.
I will of course get a lot of haters who will attack me on these points but I really really do not see Rielly as someone particularly talented in terms of skill and I especially do not see a defensive IQ on this kid. Babcock can drum him up all he wants but I don't know how much credence I give to our coach's ability to judge real talent or to really teach these guys how to play defence. We had one of the worse goals against records in the league last year. The only reason we made the playoff is because of our 4 kids who infused a lot of offence last year (Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Brown) - and of course Gardiner who showed a glimpse of what he could be. Most shocking is not just how many goals we had scored against us -- especially 5 on 5... but how we let those goals in at the last few minutes of play to relinquish the lead. I don't have the stats, but we most have lead the league in giving up leads in the 3rd period and especially in the dying minutes and in OT. This is because Babcock can't teach these guys how to think defense. In terms of judging talent, he puts Zaitsev and Rielly on together as shut down guys and that in itself tells me he is not particularly apt in choosing defensive talent.
Getting back to Rielly, I think we are best served in putting Rielly on 2nd pairing with a solid veteran who can guide him. One that will take care of the front of the net and let Rielly run around in the corners. The problem is Zaistsev I believe is just a right handed version of Rielly with a slightly better slap shot. Other than that, he is exactly what Rielly is - slightly above average offense; good straight away speed with no real puck moving skills; extremely poor at defending his zone in front of the net; no ability to hammer the puck at the net.
Ok...bring on the haters.