Rielly vs Ranger (Who should be scratched)?

KuleminFan41

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Jan 5, 2009
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I thought Ranger was fine, and he made a smart little play to free Lupul on his goal.

I'd sit Fraser, his outlet passes may just be the worst in the league, he treats the puck like a bomb.
He's not terrible at just getting the puck out but yea he does treat it like a grenade. I do wonder how he'd play against Chara if he was in front of the net and Dion not worrying about him
 

SteveV*

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He's not terrible at just getting the puck out but yea he does treat it like a grenade. I do wonder how he'd play against Chara if he was in front of the net and Dion not worrying about him

Fraser obviously does some things well, but the reason he's always been a marginal NHLer is because he is woeful in certain areas, like ECHL level puck skills. At this level, you're never a true asset if you are that bad in key areas, Fraser passing the puck up the boards is hard to watch.
 

Mess

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Jonas Siegal and Mirtle brought up good points on Ranger. Ranger's confidence is kinda fragile and you dont want to sit him in fear of losing him completely. Its why you bench Rielly.

Who should? Ranger obviously. Who would I? Probably Rielly.

I was about to post the same thing about Ranger.

This is a player that walked away from the NHL for 3 years and last year thought he would rather play in the AHL. So you have to wonder if he starts sitting what will go through his mind about his future.
 

Al14

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Jul 13, 2007
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Ranger and Fraser are 5-7 D at best. We need upgrades on D 2 & 3. We need another Phaneuf and a better Gunnarsson!
 

LeafsNation149

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Fraser should be an option, Ranger has been playing amazing recently you guys just look at his bad plays and never the good ones
 

pooleboy

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Rielly is a rookie.... needs to prove something before given something, although he is playing better than some vets he needs to earn it.
 

Miroslav Klose*

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Fraser is the worst d on the team and it isn't even close.
 

BrannigansLaw

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Fraser is the worst d on the team and it isn't even close.

Fraser has been brutal as well but since we've been willing to give Ranger time to adjust, I think it's fair to give Fraser more than two games to show he isn't as bad as he's looked. Especially when those two games have been back to back.
 

hockeyes

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Jun 15, 2013
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Ranger is a bit slow but compensates with a good stick. He is playing well and improving still.

Fraser hasn't look the greatest but with him coming off an injury I didn't expect anything huge from him. When he is playing well he is one of the meanest guys on the team, absolutely a type of player the Leafs need on the back end.

Rielly is playing better than almost anyone could have expected, his main down fall has been his partner hanging him out to dry multiple times per game which he doesn't have the experience to properly handle at this point.

Which brings me to Franson, he is the one playing the lowest below his ability. He did look a bit better last night but I would sit him a game or two and let him reset.
 

DaveT83*

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1 of the 2 votes has got to be Ranger himself.

Liles was/is far superior to Ranger.
 

BrannigansLaw

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Ranger is a bit slow but compensates with a good stick. He is playing well and improving still.

Fraser hasn't look the greatest but with him coming off an injury I didn't expect anything huge from him. When he is playing well he is one of the meanest guys on the team, absolutely a type of player the Leafs need on the back end.

Rielly is playing better than almost anyone could have expected, his main down fall has been his partner hanging him out to dry multiple times per game which he doesn't have the experience to properly handle at this point.

Which brings me to Franson, he is the one playing the lowest below his ability. He did look a bit better last night but I would sit him a game or two and let him reset.

Agreed about Franson. He's been playing like ass and needs to sit out a game to regroup. It's unfortunate because I'm a big fan of his game when he's executing like he was in the playoffs but he's looks like the polar opposite of that player at this time.

Sitting him out for a game will do him some good.
 

K19*

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Ranger's been by far our worst dman. Only thing he's got on Rielly is size.
 

DaveT83*

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Ranger's been by far our worst dman. Only thing he's got on Rielly is size.

Reilly is actually one of our most physical defenseman. Watch him. Kid never shys away from giving/taking hits. Rarely gets knocked off puck.
 

Cor

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Ranger > Fraser easily.

Both can piss off. Same with Gunner. Put Rielly with Dion and both will improve. Let Gards and Franson play together consistently, and they will get back that magic from last playoffs. Then Liles can pair with one of MacWilliam or Granberg in a sheltered role.

Trade Gunner, waive Fraser, Ranger as 7D (because he has a NMC)
 

Future

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Jonas Siegal and Mirtle brought up good points on Ranger. Ranger's confidence is kinda fragile and you dont want to sit him in fear of losing him completely. Its why you bench Rielly.

Who should? Ranger obviously. Who would I? Probably Rielly.

Yeah, Ranger's confidence is a lot more important than the 19 yr old future star defenseman's confidence.
 

Atomos2

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Jun 28, 2012
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What people fail to realize is that having Ranger in the lineup isn't that big of an issue, however having Rielly out of the lineup is a bigger issue. With Bozak and Bolland out of our lineup, pure scoring depth has been concentrated to basically the first line and maybe the second line.

Rielly brings additional offense. It may be inconsistent at times, but we really don't have the luxury to ignore it. We've scored only 2 goals in our last 3 games. We need to spread the offense around. So yes, at this moment I'd take Rielly over Ranger
 

bunjay

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Nov 9, 2008
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Why not Franson? He's shown he can't play actual defense even in a limited role.
 

Drugstorecowboi

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May 5, 2009
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Don't really get why some of our fanbase has unrealistic expectations of certain players and their role. Again, the obvious weak link on our defense is not Mark Fraser--who's been injured for weeks and had to deal with the Bruins his first game back. He cannot be blamed for the entire team being hemmed in their own zone...hopefully our fanbase will start to understand the game, and certain players in our line up and what their roles are.

The obvious weak link is Paul Ranger who is simply not an NHL calibre d-man. Will he ever be? I don't think so, maybe some of you want to overrate him but I would say he's weaker than Kostka, Finger, Exelby--and Fingerby had Toskalol in nets, meaning, they would be doing a better job with a Reimer than whatever Ranger is doing right now.

We are going backwards by employing him. The best example of how to sum him up in a nutshell is the second goal boston scored. His hockey IQ had him check a bruin ontop of Reims, hold the bruin player and reims down allowing boston to shoot at an empty net.

I don't know what else could be said other than Ranger either needs to be sent to the Marlies or perhaps the KHL might be a better fit for him. This player makes players around him worse, and is responsible for some of the most disappointing goals scored against us. Plain and simple he needs to go.

Rielly and Liles should be full time with the big club and Ranger should be sent down. I believe our D just needs one really solid, physical dman and everything would even itself out back there.

Maybe there is a team looking for a puck moving dman and willing to exchange a solid, physical reliable dman like a boychuck.
 

jmart21

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Jonas Siegal and Mirtle brought up good points on Ranger. Ranger's confidence is kinda fragile and you dont want to sit him in fear of losing him completely. Its why you bench Rielly.

Who should? Ranger obviously. Who would I? Probably Rielly.

Exactly.

There are factors at play other than just what the black/white picture is.

The way I see it; if you bench Ranger...he's done.
If you bench Rielly, it's still a learning experience. It was never going to be an 82 game season for the kid anyways. He'll learn from just about every experience he's put through.
 

Daisy Jane

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Jul 2, 2009
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I don't think Ranger is as bad as some of you are painting him.
I don't see Rielly sitting up in the press box detrimental to his game at all.

If it were me - I'd be sitting Franson for a bit.
 

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