What do we do when Rielly comes back? (Assuming everyone stays healthy)

[Racer88]

Trade him, he’s not very good defensively and isn’t that what a defence man should be…….it’s kind of in the name

 

[ACC1224]

He’s not missed because the team is playing fantastic. If they can continue to play this way when he returns, they’ll be even better.

 

[cupcrazyman2]

It's more a case of everyone stepping up their game then the we can win without Reilly chatter.

 

[meefer]

Reilly just wants to score goals and win the Norris cause he thinks he’s Bobby Orr. He took that contract cause no one offered bet

Well, I can see the trolls are out today. My gawd, friend, no one offered better? As in they couldn’t because he signed the new deal in season and no other team had the chance to tender? And really, the Orr comparison…try harder

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Rielly bleeds blue and white. Anytime someone gets hit, he’s always stepping up for the guys. He’s also always elevating his play during the playoffs. He plays better defence and his offence continues to be there. Off the top of my head. If our team is this good with timmins, imagine replacing him with a guy who’s 2-3x as good offensively


My final point is, most people say that we lose because we can’t generate offence in the playoffs. Like his defence or not, having Rielly objectively generates more offence than someone like..idk holl or Brodie for example. Doesn’t make them not important, but as of now, Sandin and Liljegren are the only threats offensively and even then Liljegren is looking to be a more defensive player, which I don’t mind. But having Rielly helps in more ways than people think

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Keep your 8 dmen

Rielly Brodie
Sandin Liljegren
Gio Holl
Benn Timmins

Need all the depth you can get. Focus on using Muzzin's LTIR to upgrade the forward position.

 

[Stephen]

Anyone who actually cares about defensive impact of defencemen shouldn’t at all be surprised that the Leafs improved defensively when Rielly got hurt. He is bad defensively. He always has been. Not Tyson Barrie level of bad, but he’s not good.

I'd say he's not consistent and panic can creep into his game, but we've seen him when he's a force.

 

[geo25]

Anyone who actually cares about defensive impact of defencemen shouldn’t at all be surprised that the Leafs improved defensively when Rielly got hurt. He is bad defensively. He always has been. Not Tyson Barrie level of bad, but he’s not good.

Totally agree....terrible defensively, no shot, low IQ and the team is doing better without him since he has been out. Trade him for a quality F.

 

[dubey]

Totally agree....terrible defensively, no shot, low IQ and the team is doing better without him since he has been out. Trade him for a quality F.

Not a coincidence imo

Tries to do too much. Needs to be kept on a leash when he gets back.

 

[GQS]

While the negatives about Rielly posted in this thread are true, his net effect on the game are positive anyway. He does make us a better team. I just hope that he's watching, and buys into this defensive system and game, and is a little more tidy when he returns.

I'm not convinced that Rielly makes the team better. More like neutral to slight negative impact on the team in that he can provide some offense, but is average defensively at best. Right now it seems like you can play any of the Leafs Dmen together and they look fine. Pairing different Dmen together doesn't seem to have any negative effects. With Rielly in the lineup you're trying to find someone to play with him to compensate for his defensive shortcomings and it seems like that's always been a struggle to do so.

I know its highly unlikely that it will happen, but I'm still in the trade Rielly camp where hopefully you can get a decent package for him and use his cap space to either bring in another player or re-sign a few guys that you might like to keep.

And congrats to Timmins, for showing he can be a useful everyday NHL player. I hope that his ascendancy continues. If it does, perhaps we get some flexibility next year, as Holl moves on.

I know its a small sample size, but I've liked watching Timmins play and am more comfortable with putting him in difficult defensive situations more than I ever would Rielly. I haven't followed his career much, but for those that have watched him play during his junior years and then Avs fans after their team drafted him, they all seemed to be high on him and it wasn't a question of if he could play in the NHL, but how good he could be.

Then unfortunately injures hit and it took him off track for a long while. Now though if he can stay healthy, why not give him more playing time and see how well he can do? Let him stay in the lineup and let Gio and Holl rotate when Rielly gets back. I think it'd be good to let Gio have some games off here and there so he can be more fresh for the playoffs and with Holl you can keep him as backup or trade him.

If Timmins can show that he can play regular minutes and do so effectively, then let him be apart of the playoff roster.

 

[Blanche Blanche]

I honestly thought I would never say this... but he is not missed..... the team is firing on all cylinders and playing incredible hockey, why screw with something that is working.... trade him

Reilly will get a chance to play with the teams new level of défense buy in. It will be very exciting to see how he is.

We were all quick to want to ship out Marner and JT and heck even Matthews earlier during the slump LOL

But I do agree, seems like we have these young guys developed and they know nothing but how to play this way and have been lights out winning puck battles and giving Murray and Sammy great angles to stop shots.

Great problem to have, and let’s see where we are next month to see what kind of trade we would even need hypothetically for Reilly.

We yelled for 3 years for better D and now we are in somewhat abundance.

Go leafs!!

 

[djdev]

we are winning games because of the team wide buy in on defense, our best forwards are leading the league in defensive touches this year and supporting of defense wayyyyyy better than at any other point in the keefe era. saying rielly is the problem is mental. sure, hes not the greatest defensively (ive been dissapointed in his defense this year early on), but hes still a fantastic 1st pairing guy and one of our most important players. also, dude is 6th in scoring for us, and has 4 most points than kerfoot in 9 less games. but ye, he sucks pshhhhh.

 

[Lauro]

People are telling about his points ... but we don't need them, have enough offensive firepower. I really really hope he is watching how the team plays right now and buys into it, starts playing defense first.
But I am not very hopeful in that, Murray and Samsonov need to take advantage of the opportunity and get as many shutouts as possible while Rielly is out ...

 

[Aashir Mallik]

People are telling about his points ... but we don't need them, have enough offensive firepower. I really really hope he is watching how the team plays right now and buys into it, starts playing defense first.
But I am not very hopeful in that, Murray and Samsonov need to take advantage of the opportunity and get as many shutouts as possible while Rielly is out ...

Someone has skipped every playoffs since 2017-2018

 

[Racer88]

He’s not missed because the team is playing fantastic. If they can continue to play this way when he returns, they’ll be even better.

Unless the team feels a sense of relief and backs off their level of play. I hope not but it does happen

 

[Macallan18]

Rielly Lilly Sandin play every game.
Rotate Gio and Brodie as they need rest to keep them fresh, and Holl and Timmins rotate and play enough to stay sharp.
Mete to the minors. Benn to the press box.
Unfortunately sooner or later we will get an injury and then that will cut down on the rotation.

 

[meefer]

I’m a Rielly fan, full stop. But what I’m enjoying more in this thread than anything else is the general agreement that we’ve a pretty good D corp. And, that’s without including Muzzin. This group is as deep as I can remember. If we can remain relatively healthy the rest of the year, and the TEAM remains committed to being defensively aware, outside of the ‘Makar’ effect, I’m pretty confident about our Dmen. We might not have a dominant pairing, but we’ve got a decent 1st and closer to two 2nd pairing units then a 2nd and 3rd. It’s not until you get to our 7th and 8th defensemen that you would see us icing a 3rd pair that reflects most teams’ daily 3rd pair. I like that.

 

[diceman934]

So funny....we were winning without Brodie and Muzzin with Rielly playing with all the new guys inserted into the line up. He makes us better in all ways. We keep all D man as you need lots to make a deep run.

Goaltending is the big difference right now as wells playing better in our own zone which started before Rielly got hurt.

 

[GardinerTheForward]

trade malgin or ZAR, run 11F 7D

 

[Tlo1]

12-1 (ot loss) with Reilly out! I knew they would do better but this is kinda crazy.

 

[sxvnert]

Back to the original pairings:

Rielly Brodie
Sandin Liljegren
Gio Holl

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Sandin-Brodie
Rielly-Liljegren
Giordano-Holl

That's 3 reliable pairings you can roll pretty evenly

 

[Tlo1]

Back to the original pairings:

Rielly Brodie
Sandin Liljegren
Gio Holl

This makes the most sense why mess with Lily and Sandin when they’ve been so good. Let Brodie and Reilly fit back in together and keep pairings that are working intact.

 

[stickty111]

Reilly just wants to score goals and win the Norris cause he thinks he’s Bobby Orr. He took that contract cause no one offered better.

Incorrect

 

[therealkoho]

Ask Gio if he needs a break first and ask him he wants a couple of games, and then roll 7D all the way home, trying not to break pairs up as much as possible. I know that won't happen so some real tough decisions will have to be made.

Every one of them have been at worse very good and the rest pretty much excellent. It's been a a great 20 game run for them.

How many teams could survive their top 3 out for over 20 games, plus w/o a real 2LW.