Starting a team: Morgan Rielly vs Charlie McAvoy

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Simple question: You’re starting a team and you have to pick either Rielly or McAvoy. Who do you take?

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[TDK67]

Ivan "**** The Refs" Provorov

 

[lebdafor norris]

Morgan Rielly, the guy is putting up an Erik Karlsson type of offensive year and his transition game is elite to go along with that offence of his; he can skate or pass the puck out the Dzone with the best of them, very nice Dman to have when you have a team full of forwards who likes to carry the puck and generate chances of the rush.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

Same age performance, youth and handedness is a big edge to Charlie

But Rielly is starting to become a top 10-15 dman and on a really cheap contract as well.

Hard not to go with Rielly right now. bit of uncertainty surrounding Charlie when we already know Rielly is so good right now.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

I am hoping contracts can stay out of it. They’re both cheap and both will get big raises soon enough.

 

[34]

Rielly is emerging as one the NHL’s stud D men.

McAvoy is very good as well.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Starting a team? McAvoy. 3 years younger.
For the next couple of years? Rielly.

 

[Hoganer13]

Rielly is great. McAvoy is great. Rielly is 3 years older and currently may be leading the way for potential Norris trophy considerations if the season ended today. Right now I would take Rielly over McAvoy, but that 3 years of development is a huge question mark with McAvoy. Does he become a perennial all star/norris candidate or does he stay stagnate in his development? Because of the uncertainty my vote is Rielly, but re-visiting this post in a couple years it could be the opposite. Two D men I would take any day of the week!

 

[hamzarocks]

Rielly for next 2 seasons atleast. Macavoy is very good at a young age but is a little injury ridden. Still has a ways to go offensively speaking before he matches rielly, but his defensive game is very sound and he just screams a elite defender in the future. Him, chabot, provorov, werenski, Dahlin, heiskanen are 6 defensive players from 2015 draft and on who will be top 10 defenders moving forward for the next decade. Guys like Rielly, Seth Jones, Hedman, will also be in their imo.

 

[wintersej]

You will be able to win a Cup with either one. Duncan Keith vs Drew Doughty.

 

[Riellyfan04]

Hmm ill take the point leading dman whos defensive game has improved! Captain Morgan babe!!!

 

[Holymakinaw]

Since Rielly was pretty amazing last season, and REALLY amazing this season, and since he's still just 24 years old.......Rielly.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

You will be able to win a Cup with either one. Duncan Keith vs Drew Doughty.

You didn't compare Rielly to Keith

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

McAvoy. He too would be putting up a boatload of points in Toronto but is more physical, an elite skater (also), and is going to be the far superior defensive player.

Also, McAvoy just turned 21 today. By far the Bruins #1 and I've defended Chara as a borderline #1 still but the gap is growing.

 

[garyturner3]

You didn't compare Rielly to Keith

Is the comparison really that crazy now? The guy is a Norris caliber d-man and if the season ended today he may very well win it. Plus he's on pace to shatter any season Keith put up in his entire career offensively. Not to mention Keith didn't become a Norris winner until he was 26; Rielly is currently only 24 so he's still got room to grow.

Obviously I understand it's beyond premature to anoint Rielly as good as Duncan Keith because the guy has a lot of hardware to his name, but all I'm saying is every indication points towards Rielly being close to that level now and he's not going away any time soon.

As far as who I'd take....it's a tossup. I feel like they've both got multiple Norris caliber seasons ahead of them. They're both that good.

 

[wintersej]

You didn't compare Rielly to Keith

I mean as much as I compared McAvoy to Doughty. Prime Keith was obviously better defensively than Rielly, and Keith obviously has all the hardware that Rielly hopes to get. Rielly obviously won't continue to shoot three times his career average, and the underlying numbers to point to him continuing to put up quite this much offense, but he is clearly a very good player that in badly in need of his Seabrook and Hjalmarsson to help him out. Stylistically, I do think Rielly is to Keith as McAvoy is to Doughty.

In the end, I think McAvoy will get looked back at as the better defenseman, but that is based on nothing but homerism and gut feelings and the fact that the Bergeron line has always made Rielly look BAD so its more prominent in my mind.

 

[Apotheosis]

Duncan Keith vs Drew Doughty basically. Ironic since the age gap for the former is also quite similar. I think this depends on team make up. The Leafs are more akin to the 2010 Hawks in that their number 1 D needs to be able to quickly separate guys from the puck and transition it even faster. Something Keith was best at and that's one of Rielly's best qualities. McAvoy like Doughty is superior defensively but inferior offensively, but they'll be minute munchers who can handle a minute crunching role and thrive defensively while transitioning the puck. You could win a cup with either.

 

[PensandCaps]

McAvoy without question.

 

[780il]

Mcavoy because of age and handedness.

I love Rielly too, his skating and transition game are crazy good.

But ultimately I'll take Charlie.

 

[NextYear67]

Rielly AINEC. I'll take the guy about to win the Norris, thanks. Silly question.

 

[Regal]

Tough call. Ordinarily I would go with the more proven player in Rielly given the age gap isn't large and Rielly is still young, but for the Canucks, I'm hoping Hughes can be a Rielly-like player on the left side, and then McAvoy can fit in on the right. In a vacuum, I'd probably take Rielly, though I really like McAvoy

 

[Sojourn]

Morgan Rielly, the guy is putting up an Erik Karlsson type of offensive year and his transition game is elite to go along with that offence of his; he can skate or pass the puck out the Dzone with the best of them, very nice Dman to have when you have a team full of forwards who likes to carry the puck and generate chances of the rush.

Dude, no. Rielly has been great so far, there is no doubt, but this is not an Erik Karlsson type of offensive year. That’s the type of comment you make when you’re ignorant to what Karlsson was doing, or the circumstances involved.

Karlsson was doing that when no one else was coming close, and he was doing it on a team where he was the leading scorer, or just barely not. Rielly is doing that on one of the best offensive teams in the game, isn’t even close to the top scorer on his team(a 7 point difference between him and the #1 guy), and at a time when scoring is up and there are 4 defensemen currently at a PPG or higher.

Rielly is having a great season, but calling this Erik Karlsson caliber offense is not doing him any favors, or you. You can’t even pretend Rielly is not benefiting from the offensive talent surrounding him. Karlsson was the offensive talent.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Rielly for me as more of a known quantity, with the dwindling RFA savings I'm not sure there's much financial benefit to McAvoy over Rielly in terms of AAV from now until their 30's. McAvoy's got 3.5 years of prime left but that probably doesn't matter for another 7ish years so I'll take the more known quantity who's firing on all cylinders now

You didn't compare Rielly to Keith

lol, no issue with the McAvoy to Doughty comparison though?

 

[Section88]

Love both of them but ill take mcavoy

 

[Rygu]

Rielly AINEC. I'll take the guy about to win the Norris, thanks. Silly question.

No bias in that post whatsoever