Rielly

meefer

Registered User
Jun 9, 2015
4,730
4,688
Bangkok
i think as a fanbase we get caught up with raw production. Especially in the playoffs. Which is understandable based on some of the shortcomings of our top forwards.

however, (without stat checking) I’m sure the MTL d men didn’t put up massive points on the backend during their run. I think this is now where the division is. It’s not what Rielly brings to the table, it’s what he doesn’t bring - a net front presence, that mean SOB personality, crease clearing ability. I think some fans are looking for some change, and I think by trading Rielly, it would I’ve us a completely new element for our top pairing.

let me just add, I’m not sure who this mystery, top pairing, mean dude is coming from. Just an observation. Big Rielly fan BTW.

I’d also like to add, Hamilton would not be the answer. He’s similar to Rielly (Hamilton’s got a better shot) in playing style, and would end up costing more. He’s also not a fit with Brodie.

You know, thank you. That you didn't agree with my points, no worries. That you didn't dismiss them out of hand, kudos to you. That you don't know exactly which direction to head down, thank you again. You're allowing conversation and ideas to develop. Refreshing as all get out.

We may disagree on that SOB thing as being what the Leafs require, me thinking it should come from somewhere other than one of ours who hasn't disappointed in the playoffs, but you've given me food for thought. Cheers.
 

TheTotalPackage

Registered User
Sep 14, 2006
7,408
5,604
Re-sign Rielly ASAP. 8 years for $56 million and call it a day.

If fans think the Leafs' D is a disaster now, just imagine how bad it'd be by removing their best one by a country mile.
 
  • Like
Reactions: frizzer1

Bust

Registered User
Jul 28, 2016
363
481
You know, thank you. That you didn't agree with my points, no worries. That you didn't dismiss them out of hand, kudos to you. That you don't know exactly which direction to head down, thank you again. You're allowing conversation and ideas to develop. Refreshing as all get out.

We may disagree on that SOB thing as being what the Leafs require, me thinking it should come from somewhere other than one of ours who hasn't disappointed in the playoffs, but you've given me food for thought. Cheers.

i certainly don’t disagree with anything you’ve stated. I think you’re completely correct in questioning the defensive level of our top 6 if we remove Rielly and trying to replace him internally.

I (not too fondly) remember Babcocks usage of Rielly when he came on board. Heavy defensive usage, minimal offensive zone starts, in an effort to develop him on the back end. I’ll give it to Babcock, he knew Rielly could produce offensively. Babs overcooked him for an extra season with those heavy defensive matchups and only started to give him PP time at the end of that season. The following season Rielly had that Norris level season and only lost out on the trophy due too giordano having one hell of a season himself.

I think the point I’m trying to make is, we don’t have a Rielly waiting in the wings. He will not be easily replaceable. And too think back to the investment the team made in him, bringing him along as a top pairing guy - it would hurt to see him in another sweater. I don’t necessarily think we need a carbon copy of Rielly, is all.

Cheers too you! I love a good leaf discussion!

in the sake of discussion- I wonder what a guy like McDonagh would cost. That’s a guy I would target as he checks a couple of the boxes I previously discussed.
 

Wafflewhipper

Registered User
Jan 18, 2014
14,114
5,694
Trade him. We can’t keep a $9,000.000 defenseman. If we can magically i would like to know how that’s going to happen. Time to move on. I actually don’t like him anymore also. Just putting that out there. He doesn’t fit our defensive needs.
 

DcW

Registered User
Feb 27, 2018
390
313
Feels like the draft would have been the place to deal Mo for max value. Gonna be another lost asset for nothing. Management digging their own grave (and the teams).
Cut throat business…offer an extension at a price you can afford, deadline is free agent day or gone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hockeywiz542

The Apologist

Apologizing for Leaf garbage since 1979
Oct 16, 2007
12,250
2,966
Leaf Nation Hell
Feels like the draft would have been the place to deal Mo for max value. Gonna be another lost asset for nothing. Management digging their own grave (and the teams).
Cut throat business…offer an extension at a price you can afford, deadline is free agent day or gone.
Why would a competitive team do this when they still have an entire season at a reasonable hit to use?
The Leafs allowing people to walk and not getting anything in return is a tradition that dates back to when Dubas was AGM...
As opposed to pre Dubas days?
Remember that massive package we got for Cujo?
 
Last edited:

DcW

Registered User
Feb 27, 2018
390
313
Why would a competitive team do this when they still have an entire season at a reasonable hit to use?

As opposed to pre Dubas days?
Remember that massive package we got for Cujo?

So they can restock the cupboards, open cap space and maximize value on an asset. Maybe Tampa, Colorado and Vegas can gamble on taking a ufa right to the door but the Leafs can’t and shouldn’t.
I like Mo but if it’s clear they can’t resign, got to cut bait.
 

The Apologist

Apologizing for Leaf garbage since 1979
Oct 16, 2007
12,250
2,966
Leaf Nation Hell
So they can restock the cupboards, open cap space and maximize value on an asset. Maybe Tampa, Colorado and Vegas can gamble on taking a ufa right to the door but the Leafs can’t and shouldn’t.
I like Mo but if it’s clear they can’t resign, got to cut bait.
Why can Colorado and Vegas exactly? And Tampa, as cap tight as they are?

We have to remember that having Rielly for a full season is an asset as well. It's not like he's doing nothing all season.
 

austin1981

Registered User
Oct 29, 2019
9
1
Why can Colorado and Vegas exactly? And Tampa, as cap tight as they are?

We have to remember that having Rielly for a full season is an asset as well. It's not like he's doing nothing all season.
my guess is we lost too many pending ufas plus the money being thrown ntm no slap shot all weak wristers and cant defend yet playing years in the league might aswell get something
 

Leafsfan74

Registered User
Jul 2, 2018
4,987
5,204
I don't get it... Every single year, Rielly is one of our very few players that plays better in the playoffs than the regular season and people still want him gone.

Since he plays better in the playoffs than the regular season, he is likely to have a caphit that is lower than his on ice value when it actually matters (the playoffs).


All of our other players have typically been better in the regular season (so far) or the same... Rielly is one of the few guys that steps it up when we need him to and I think he should be our 2nd most untouchable player after Matthews at the moment.

It's cap space, a needed change in personnel, and, long term consideration moving forward. It's simply business.

If I am Dubas, Reilly is the first guy to go. He's a cerebral, quiet leader from what I can see. Probably well liked. That's great if the team is winning, not ideal for one that is losing. He also has strong value right now. If he didn't, he'd be affordable and wouldn't need to be moved.

When ANY team loses 5 years in a row in the first round, everyone not named Matthews is in-play. I'd throw Matthews name in there too except he is basically irreplaceable.

You can get a good return for Reilly and you can't afford him anyways. Ultimately, why should you?

Reilly out, Hamilton on. Bring in another big, mean body in the backend. Maybe they have it with Hutton, I don't know. This team needs some snarl to go with skill. They shouldn't be looking for anything outside of big, unpleasant, win-driven players. I emphasize the word unpleasant.

They should be mirroring how the fans feel, and this franchise is hitting rock bottom when they should be riding a cloud. Don't bring in A-holes, just guys who take to the ice with one goal "win at all costs".

They won't be able to fill the forwards through F.A if the team I envision is to come to fruition. They would need Robertson and/or Anderson to make their mark. I imagine however, that they can make their backend a legitimate top three in the league, if they are willing to part with the assets. That will be their key identity to go with their core. Physical, hard nosed D-Men.

If the teams core is really interested in winning, they should welcome the types of relentless strong driving players that I suggest. In fact, I bet the entire team would.
 
  • Like
Reactions: austin1981

austin1981

Registered User
Oct 29, 2019
9
1
It's cap space, a needed change in personnel, and, long term consideration moving forward. It's simply business.

If I am Dubas, Reilly is the first guy to go. He's a cerebral, quiet leader from what I can see. Probably well liked. That's great if the team is winning, not ideal for one that is losing. He also has strong value right now. If he didn't, he'd be affordable and wouldn't need to be moved.

When ANY team loses 5 years in a row in the first round, everyone not named Matthews is in-play. I'd throw Matthews name in there too except he is basically irreplaceable.

You can get a good return for Reilly and you can't afford him anyways. Ultimately, why should you?

Reilly out, Hamilton on. Bring in another big, mean body in the backend. Maybe they have it with Hutton, I don't know. This team needs some snarl to go with skill. They shouldn't be looking for anything outside of big, unpleasant, win-driven players. I emphasize the word unpleasant.

They should be mirroring how the fans feel, and this franchise is hitting rock bottom when they should be riding a cloud. Don't bring in A-holes, just guys who take to the ice with one goal "win at all costs".

They won't be able to fill the forwards through F.A if the team I envision is to come to fruition. They would need Robertson and/or Anderson to make their mark. I imagine however, that they can make their backend a legitimate top three in the league, if they are willing to part with the assets. That will be their key identity to go with their core. Physical, hard nosed D-Men.

If the teams core is really interested in winning, they should welcome the types of relentless strong driving players that I suggest. In fact, I bet the entire team would.
i agree with everything you got heart
 

Budz

Registered User
Jan 28, 2013
1,862
2,216
Re-sign Rielly ASAP. 8 years for $56 million and call it a day.

If fans think the Leafs' D is a disaster now, just imagine how bad it'd be by removing their best one by a country mile.

Their best D man. What????

Also - if you can find more than 3 or 4 - 2 on 1s against Reilly that don’t go in our net. I might buy you a steak dinner.
 
  • Like
Reactions: usernamezrhardtodo

TakeTheBody

Registered User
Jan 10, 2018
2,132
1,506
It's pretty simple. Sign him at a reasonable price or trade him. The Leafs can't afford to let him walk and get nothing for him.
 

KitchenSink

Registered User
Dec 3, 2018
52
36
Re-sign Rielly ASAP. 8 years for $56 million and call it a day.

If fans think the Leafs' D is a disaster now, just imagine how bad it'd be by removing their best one by a country mile.

I think 7M aav is a bit high. I think max the leafs can realistically afford with a flat cap for Reilly is 6.5M. Pretty much give him the money from Kessel's 1.2M retention coming off the book next year. There are starting to be some serious questions about his ability to qb a top PP. If he isn't on a top PP he definitely isn't worth 7M and possibly not even my proposed 6.5.

I would actually argue that Muzzin has been the best leafs D the last 2 years but it's debatable. I would like to resign Reilly too but if he's looking at Jones as a comparable it's not going to work. The Leafs are in a real tough cap situation moving forward and if players aren't willing to sign for what works for the leafs you have to recoup some assets.

It seems like people who are saying we can't afford to trade Reilly are forgetting that the leafs can take his 5M and sign a pretty good D for about 5-6M. It's not like the leafs would be trading him and then do nothing to replace him. If the leafs had started negotiations a few weeks ago they could have had a pretty good idea of if he's gunna walk next year and therefore decide to trade him and sign a UFA. Instead, I have heard they will begin negotiations in August... After the top D UFA have signed. Huge time and asset management mistake.
 
  • Like
Reactions: usernamezrhardtodo

GQS

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
3,511
2,242
Re-sign Rielly ASAP. 8 years for $56 million and call it a day.

If fans think the Leafs' D is a disaster now, just imagine how bad it'd be by removing their best one by a country mile.

If the Leafs can find a good defensive Dman to replace Rielly it would be an overall upgrade. All these years he's been a good Dman, but he's never been the elite Dman that we've always hoped he could be. Why do you think all these years its been tough to find a good partner for him? Because he has his defensive issues and he can't get himself fixed let alone try and cover for his partner which is why the Leafs defense was a problem for so many years.

Muzzin and Holl have been pretty solid for the most part, but Rielly with almost anyone has been a huge problem. Hainsey kinda worked for a while, but wasn't a longterm solution and it wasn't until Brodie was signed did Rielly have someone to cover for him and that pairing became solid as well and finally giving the Leafs a decent top 4.

If the Leafs trade Rielly for a good package and replace him with a good defensive Dman, I don't think the Leafs will miss Rielly nearly as much as some people think. After that I wish the Leafs would go with Liljegren, Sandin and Dermott for the bottom pairing and see where our young Dmen are at. Especially with Lilly, its time to give him a long look and see if he's NHL ready or not. It seems like he's always getting shafted in favour of Sandin and I think we need to find out where he's at next season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: usernamezrhardtodo

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad