And did u forget he is only 20. This is exact same when people were down on Larson and Hedman when they were failing short of people's expectation until their fourth season or so.
Trading Reilly without a significant young peice or player with the equal potential as Reilly would be the stupidest thing Leafs management can do. This guy would bite us in the ass and everyone would then turn around and blame the Leafs for not being patient with the young d-man of Reilly ' s calibre. Oh, I can just see that happening in my head if the Leafs do trade him immediate fixes and so forth . 
habsrule4eva3089
Registered User
- Nov 22, 2008
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If he ever learns to play defense he'll be a gem. Way too easy to get around him or dangle him, always puck watching.
WTFMAN99
Registered User
- Jun 17, 2009
- 34,139
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He's no Shea Weber but the defense is improving, keep in mind he's 20 years old, it takes a while to learn, he's good at closing gaps, and angling guys off, not as easy to go around him. Guilty of puck watching on occaision.
It's all about expectations, I know that as a 20 year old defenseman, there will be growing pains, especially with our roster, it's not nearly as good as Pittsburgh or even Winnipeg but progress is being made.
Rielly's defense has been much better under Horachek. His board play has improved (I see him out muscling players bigger than him), his gap control is excellent, and his stick is always in the lane. The problem for him is his net presence, as he's not very physical in front of his own zone, and he can get a bit lost in his own zone when he's chasing the puck. He's also gives up the puck a lot of times, but that's normal for a OFD. I wouldn't trade him for any defenseman in his draft except for Lindholm.
WTFMAN99
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- Jun 17, 2009
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Lack of experience and kind of expected. A lot of players kind of squander the chances he creates for them too, and his shot needs to improve a lot.
The strength will come, kid hits the gym a lot.
Net presence is where some guys who are really good in front can get position on him but he'll gain experience and learn not to watch the puck as much.
As the team improves and he matures, he should be a beauty, realistically I know Dmen take a while to develop. Gonna need to wait until he's 23-25 to really shine. I just hope most people understand he's not Drew Doughty or Aaron Ekblad....and that's okay lol.
TOML
Registered User
Love him, he'll be more of a 2way guy than an offensive guy it seems
definitely think he's a first pairing dman when all is said and done and hopefully even a number 1.
That being said would like to see a bit more offensive production out of him. Hopefully his shot gets better over the offseason
definitely think he's a first pairing dman when all is said and done and hopefully even a number 1.
That being said would like to see a bit more offensive production out of him. Hopefully his shot gets better over the offseason
Hopefully Franson can help him with his shot before he leaves lol
Reilly with Franson's shot pls
Reilly with Franson's shot pls
KrisLetAngry
MrJukeBoy
His potential is a top 10 defensemen. But he might not get there. Once he's 23 or 24 we will get a better idea. I said in an earlier thread about young defense and how we ranked them and had Morgan Rielly on the bottom but said he has potential to be better then every young defensemen on this list.
Community
44 is Rielly good
I agree with all of this except the bold part (and to be honest I wouldn't trade him for any dman from his draft at this point because I like his skill set and he has a great attitude...). He might give the puck away a few times, but he's one of the best at keeping the puck away from opposition as his transition game is the best on our defense by far (there was a stat shown about 5 games in under Horachek and he had more offensive zone entries than the rest of the defense combined).
ViewsFromThe6ix
Zachary on the Attackary
His defensive game is better than his offensive game, really impressed with him under Horacek, playing the most minutes nightly and holding his own.
His shot is god awful still. Really needs to work on that, but I for one am very happy at where he is.
His shot is god awful still. Really needs to work on that, but I for one am very happy at where he is.
Atomos2
Registered User
Usuually when developing an offensive defenceman, one would like to see him work on his defense first before getting creative and going wild with offense. If Rielly can work on his shot and gains more confidence in the offensie zone, I could see him being a top defenceman in the future.
TheLeastOfTheBunch
Franchise Centre
Offence will always be there for him (almost cracked 30 points as a 19 year old rookie) it's the defence that he needs to work on. He's getting better and better in his own end
Although, he also needs to work on that shot of his as well
Although, he also needs to work on that shot of his as well
ViewsFromThe6ix
Zachary on the Attackary
I think the thing that worries people is that he dominated junior both offensively and defensively, but he has not translated the offense as well as he should. Its likely just his weak shot, but I don't think he resembles a letang type at this point. He may add that element to his game, but as of now he looks to be a defense first guy.
Brodie only had 14 points at 20Hedman had 23 points at age 20.
OEL had 32 points at age 20.
Subban wasn't in the NHL at age 20.
Keith wasn't in the NHL at age 20.
McDonagh wasn't in the NHL at age 20.
Suter had 16 points at age 20.
Seabrook had 32 points at age 20.
Green had 12 points at age 20.
Shattenkirk wasn't in the NHL at age 20.
Carlson wasn't in the NHL at age 20 (6 points in 22 games, mostly in AHL that year)
Hamilton had 25 points at age 20.
Yandle had 12 points at age 20 (only 43 games).
etc
Doughty, Karlsson, Ekblad, etc are VERY much the exception. Defencemen, even those who go on to become 40-50+ point guys, typically aren't in the NHL, or put up somewhere between 15-30 points at Rielly's age.
leafsgirl12
Registered User
Rielly has had shots on net and some pretty good chances but the goalies have made good saves.
leafsgirl12
Registered User
Kamiccolo
Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
Yeah I don't see that. I'm not willing to put a cap on a 20 year old dman, but to me he looks like he will evolve into a two way top pairing D with the potential to be a solid #1. Either way he looks like he will be a great player and I'm not willing to say he is behind in his draft class because he is a much better player in some areas and worse in others.
We're talking about #1 Dman.
Kamiccolo
Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
Not really. Here is how I see him.
He grabs the puck, up the ice, into the offensive zone, shifts his weight, looks like he is about to absolutely unleash a shot, then right before something happens and he gets no power off and it is lightly brushed aside.
I think the issue is confidence.
Pyrophorus
Registered User
Kamiccolo
Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
Not sure if sarcasm or what you're trying to say?
I just meant he is only 20, the team is awful, and no one is playing with any confidence, which is why we've stopped scoring. We need a blow out game where we score a bunch to get out of this funk, and I bet it happens soon and ruins our top 5 pick.
