All Purpose Morgan Rielly Discussion

[Critical13]

We're done almost 30% of the season, how much longer is Keefe going to give this gongo-show pairing of Rielly-Brodie. They are an awful fit.

 

[Notsince67]

These two illustrations of Rielly's defensive play show that he's been a liability for longer than we've wanted to admit, guy has a knack for making dumbass plays.

You can't be a #1 Defenseman when your DEFENSIVE numbers are the worst on the team yet your partner is the best on the team...

Isolated 5x5 impact? Smells like a bullshit stat to me. His on ice 5x5 gf% has been positive for the last 3 years and that was with meh partners, I am now to believe his actual impact was a net negative?
What utter horseshit.

This obsession with Rielly here is unbelievably dumb. The leafs defense has actually played pretty well this year. For those who dont remember how bad the defense was last year when Rielly was hurt, look it up.

Every offensive defenseman is going to get noticed out there. He has as many points as Nylander and more than most of the other forwards. Just thinking this is a concern when he faces the toughest defensive minutes on the team is goal seeking crap supportive evidence.

Focus on the true anchors of the team instead of biting off more than you can chew from a subject matter perspective.

 

[Notsince67]

Looks off a wide open Matthew’s one timer with the goalie already down, then chases a puck he was never going to get to first and gifts a breakaway in OT. That was a bad sequence for Mo.

That is was but it is hardly conclusive that he was bad in the game.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

The team defense is much better because we got Brodie, Bogo and Holl has upped his game and Dermy is playing without injury ... our weak link is Rielly ... really when he is on ice all of us are nervous he will get scored on because he seems to want to play rover this season ... he has played a few decent games where he just stayed back and tried defense ... we really don't need him to rush up ice all da time ... he i forcing things that just are not there ... and because our defense has improved we are all noticing it more and more every game ... I would give him a rest for a week and play Lehtonen in his place ... Lehtonen can take over PP for a week and lets see how things play out ... my guy says we may be ahead of where we are now ... but that is how we figure out if we need Rielly \going forward or not

 

[Notsince67]

We're done almost 30% of the season, how much longer is Keefe going to give this gongo-show pairing of Rielly-Brodie. They are an awful fit.

How much longer are you "master analysts" going to pretend you know what the f*** you are talking about?

Leafs game score metric developed by Dom Luszczyszyn

 

[Mats13]

We're done almost 30% of the season, how much longer is Keefe going to give this gongo-show pairing of Rielly-Brodie. They are an awful fit.

I don’t really think Brodie has been bad at all. I’ve liked his game for the most part. Rielly on the other hand...

 

[Mats13]

Idk what makes me more mad, how weak his shot is or how bad his decision making is.

His shot is garbage and poses no threat to the goalie, yet he always takes those stupid flub shots from the point on the PP. He has to know by now that those shots are useless.

I used to absolutely love watching him play, but ever since his 72 point year he’s completely abandoned defence and just plays like a less offensively gifted Mike Green.

 

[ANDI P IS CUTE]

2 YRS IN A ROW, HE WAS BRUTAL LAST YEAR TOO.

 

[Deez Nuts]

Been saying it for years, when Rielly is on the ice the Leafs bleed goals against. He is absolutely trash defensively. You can not expect to win, especially in the playoffs with this clown playing 20-25 minutes. He literally has zero strengths other than skating yet once he crosses the blue line in the offensive zone it is a turnover of a weak muffin shot that has no chance. And in the defensive zone he has absolutely no concept of how to play positional D. You would think after several years in the league he would have improved but he seems to be getting worse. The opponent scores and he looks into the sky like a fool.

Dubas needs to trade this bum. No partner could ever cover up for his low hockey iq and garbage defensive play.

Or in the meantime, at least play Muzzin with Brodie and demote Rielly.

 

[Superstar]

Even if Matthews had not already scored 2 goals last night if he's open like that Rielly needs to pass him him the puck.

I agree, but one would think he would be even more conscientious because Matthews already has 2 goals...and it's 3-on-3 overtime...Marner and Matthews are his only linemates...not like Brodie is on the other side and Thornton's beard is covering his eyes...c'mon, wake up!

 

[Critical13]

Playing him with Justin Holl might actually be kind of interesting. Holl is a better zone defender than Brodie, which is one of Rielly's worst situations. Neither Brodie nor Mo can break up a cylce like Holl can.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I agree, but one would think he would be even more conscientious because Matthews already has 2 goals...and it's 3-on-3 overtime...Marner and Matthews are his only linemates...not like Brodie is on the other side and Thornton's beard is covering his eyes...c'mon, wake up!

They were saying on the broadcast how Matthews seems more happy when other players on his line score a goal, like the way Thornton did last night and he doesn't celebrate as much when he's the one who scores. So I don't think Matthews personally cared that he already scored 2 goals, it's just that Rielly should have seen he was open regardless of his 2 goals.

 

[BlueBaron]

Playing him with Justin Holl might actually be kind of interesting. Holl is a better zone defender than Brodie, which is one of Rielly's worst situations. Neither Brodie nor Mo can break up a cylce like Holl can.

That's actually not a bad idea, I don't recall them ever playing together, mind you Holl was never a realistic option before.

 

[Superstar]

They were saying on the broadcast how Matthews seems more happy when other players on his line score a goal, like the way Thornton did last night and he doesn't celebrate as much when he's the one who scores. So I don't think Matthews personally cared that he already scored 2 goals, it's just that Rielly should have seen he was open regardless of his 2 goals.

I'm not suggesting that Matthews is a puck hog and wanted to get the hat trick...I'm speaking from Rielly's perspective, that he had a much better option than to just slap the puck at an Ottawa player...Matthews was wide open to score, so passing the puck to him would have probably helped him secure the hat trick as well as help the team secure a victory. He also wouldn't have put himself in such a predicament...Matthews was deep in the zone to the right and Marner was behind the net when he made the pass, so Rielly had no protection behind him when he shot the puck at the Ottawa player.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I'm not suggesting that Matthews is a puck hog and wanted to get the hat trick...I'm speaking from Rielly's perspective, that he had a much better option than to just slap the puck at an Ottawa player...Matthews was wide open to score, so passing the puck to him would have probably helped him secure the hat trick as well as help the team secure a victory. He also wouldn't have put himself in such a predicament...Matthews was deep in the zone to the right and Marner was behind the net when he made the pass, so Rielly had no protection behind him when he shot the puck at the Ottawa player.

Look at the play in question I thought Rielly could have passed it to Matthews, although there really no more sense in debating it because we can not go back and change history.

 

[ottomaddox]

I like Rielly. He's a bit off lately, but he's still on pace for a good season. He's been like this in the past. He'll find his groove. He's a good player and he will come through for Toronto.

 

[mapleleaf979]

Reilly is a good player. We know his will to defend can be broken, his will to defend the forecheck can be broken. I dont like Reilly in the playoffs vs big teams with 2-1, 3-2 scores and the other team knows the Leafs can not defend the forecheck, Reilly has no second fight in him along the wall, he doesnt take that personally. His skating and puck carrying completely get over shadowed in the playoffs. Id 100% swap Reilly for another Dman who can shut other teams down.

 

[ottomaddox]

If everyone is so quick to trade Rielly then TOR will be quick to not have a #1D.

 

[Golden_Jet]

They were saying on the broadcast how Matthews seems more happy when other players on his line score a goal, like the way Thornton did last night and he doesn't celebrate as much when he's the one who scores. So I don't think Matthews personally cared that he already scored 2 goals, it's just that Rielly should have seen he was open regardless of his 2 goals.

Except the goalie wasn’t in the net, hard for a player to pass, when he sees no goalie.

 

[BigGulpsEh]

Except the goalie wasn’t in the net, hard for a player to pass, when he sees no goalie.

There were 3 sens players infront of the net. He shot it into a crowd. Matthews was wide open with nobody infront of him.

Rielly had tunnel vision, shot into a crowd and then gave up a break away.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Really disappointing display of selfishness by a guy who was once considered as a potential captain for this team.

The "Captain Morgan" crowd tells you everything you ever need to know about how we treated Rielly with kid gloves. A defenseman who only cares about the o-zone is the worst possible model for the type of player you'd want leading by example. But he's a good Canadian boy so hf Leafs penned endless fanfiction about how he was the hardest worker who played the right way, even though the former is unknowable and the latter is demonstrably false.

Maybe he's the best human on the planet and would have been a great choice for captain that's fine, but the people who thought his on-ice play made him the ideal candidate were lying to themselves.

 

[ottomaddox]

The "Captain Morgan" crowd tells you everything you ever need to know about how we treated Rielly with kid gloves. A defenseman who only cares about the o-zone is the worst possible model for the type of player you'd want leading by example. But he's a good Canadian boy so hf Leafs penned endless fanfiction about how he was the hardest worker who played the right way, even though the former is unknowable and the latter is demonstrably false.

Maybe he's the best human on the planet and would have been a great choice for captain that's fine, but the people who thought his on-ice play made him the ideal candidate were lying to themselves.

What are you saying then? Can you tell me why there is such a wave of daggers towards Rielly now? Can you suggest a #1D that's in our organization who's going to replace him?

 

[Critical13]

What are you saying then? Can you tell me why there is such a wave of daggers towards Rielly now? Can you suggest a #1D that's in our organization who's going to replace him?

I am not really sure what you are saying. What metric are you using to call him a #1D? His performance doesn't warrant it any more than it warrants calling Holl or Brodie our #1D.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

What are you saying then? Can you tell me why there is such a wave of daggers towards Rielly now? Can you suggest a #1D that's in our organization who's going to replace him?

I'm saying what I said, it's that simple, I'm not saying what you decided you wanted me to be saying.

I've never supported moving Morgan Rielly precisely because we can't just replace him with a number 1 D magically. And I am not suddenly negative on him now, I am realistic about his shortcomings as a player, that's it, I don't know why you need to try and put me into some position I am not advocating for. Why are people so negative on Rielly now? Because he's been given a free ride for years and also there is no Gardiner/Barrie to take the brunt of defensive criticism. And the d partner excuse is finally gone, he is now playing with Brodie who played with Giordano when he won the Norris. Just out of excuses.

 

[TheShape]

Is it just me or has his skating looked a step slower the past year or so?