Rielly is probably not the best D on this year's team, let alone all the way back to Salming.
Lol by a mile he is! And best since Salming. Broke into the Leaf playing on the right side and did so for 3 plus years playing with hot garbage for partners and was never sheltered much at all after his first 30 games. Look at his playing partners it is a list of who’s who in the worse D man we have had over the last 6 years or so. This year they took a broke down 3rd pair d man his whole career and played him with Rielly. The year before with a player fresh out of the KHL who struggled badly and those were his best partners.
He spent the last half of the year before Zeitsev arrived playing with Marincin and made him look great and Hunwick both on the top pair and before that Polak and Franson. Paul Ranger, Tim Gleason, Robidas and Polak were also his partners at different times. He also played with Gardiner for a stretch of games and they did well together.
Rielly has never had the opportunity to grown into the NHL he made the jump straight from the WHL into the poop storm that was the Leafs and played on his off side something that gets lost on most on here all the while playing with poor skaters who were at best a number 6 or worse D man in the NHL and yet still developed into what we see today and he is a great D man who is very underrated especially on here.
One last thing he has done all of this while providing leadership on and off the ice and he is only 24 years old. I am bias 100% but in this case I am also correct.