Mo Rielly - "Our Norris Trophy Candidate"

[baton elevated]

One bothersome trait about Rielly is his complete disdain to be physical. I'm not talking about bone crushers, I'm talking about easy board hits to let opponents know you are there. Not even a rub!! He completely skates away from it, this gives the oppentents the confidence to do whatever they want with the puck. Even as far as playing with their head down to make plays. It's so infuriating!!!
I know I refer to Boston a lot (Even though I detest them) but they instill a philosophy. You cannot be a Bruin unless you follow this team fundamental (whatever it may be).
It's the reason players like Hamilton, Seguin, Kessel and even Jumbo were so readily dispatched. They aren't afraid to discharge players with high pedigree if they don't fit the mold. The player has to fit the team, not just amassing a team full of skill and building around that skill.

 

[Mickey Marner]

I'm sorry but please explain to me what makes Rielly such a special player? Offensively he doesn't have the iq, skill or hockey sense to make plays. He continuesly tried to force plays which leads into turnovers, he can't hit the side of a barn with his shot, and there a numerous amount of times in a game that I think he truly forgets he's a defenseman. I understand he wants to play aggressive but when you're constantly pinching at the worst moments of a game and then not getting back, you're just asking for trouble.

Defensively he's just horrible and definitely this team's weakest when it actually comes to defense. Extremely weak on the puck, holds on to the puck way to long looking to make a home run play instead of a simple outlet pass, gets burned constantly on the outside.

Rielly is a fast skater and that's about it. People keep talking about his point totals. Let's remember he's playing roughly 24 minutes a night while getting top pp time and let's not act like he creates any offense with his play making when 95% of his points is either passing it to either Matthews or Marner and letting them make the plays. Rielly currently has 30 points, 11 on the powerplay. Let's compare that to Muzzin who plays against the opposing teams best players every night, doesn't get PP time and plays roughly 4 minutes less then Rielly and he currently has 17 points.

Stop acting that Rielly is some offensive threat when realistically you could even put Dermott in his place and I can almost guarantee you Dermott would have near the same amount as points if not more considering Dermott can actually hit the net.

I think he's a bit mislabeled as an offensive defenseman. He's an elite puck-mover, especially in transition and is generally excellent (less so this season) at ancillary offensive things like making pinches and holding the ozone line. A lot of his points are about making the right pass to the right person rather than creating something from nothing. He's started to strafe the blueline more this year, but he's not generating much with it as his shot is a muffin and he doesn't have the vision to realize the passing options. He's basically just a better version of the player we drafted rather than one that who has added things to his repertoire. He's a suitable top-pairing defenseman, but not one I'd be remiss losing if his price tag is north of 7. He should get the deployment McAvoy had with Chara and Krug; 1st pair 5v5, 2nd/3rd unit special teams, ~22 minutes per game.

 

[IPS]

When are people going to realize Rielly kind of blows..

Don't get me wrong he does do good things - mainly his transition game. His ability to defend 1 on 1 situations is putrid. He's never proactive in his own zone, he's always chasing the other team around. He's now also become a complete non-factor on the PP.

His first night tonight where he didn't have TJ Brodie to cover his mistakes and he got exposed in a horrible way.

 

[Stephen]

One bothersome trait about Rielly is his complete disdain to be physical. I'm not talking about bone crushers, I'm talking about easy board hits to let opponents know you are there. Not even a rub!! He completely skates away from it, this gives the oppentents the confidence to do whatever they want with the puck. Even as far as playing with their head down to make plays. It's so infuriating!!!
I know I refer to Boston a lot (Even though I detest them) but they instill a philosophy. You cannot be a Bruin unless you follow this team fundamental (whatever it may be).
It's the reason players like Hamilton, Seguin, Kessel and even Jumbo were so readily dispatched. They aren't afraid to discharge players with high pedigree if they don't fit the mold. The player has to fit the team, not just amassing a team full of skill and building around that skill.

If there's a one on one battle in the defensive zone, Rielly tends to concede body position but tries to hack and slash at the puck and feet from a position of weakness, but he could always just close on the body and completely rub out a play.

He did make a nice play to breakup a two on one in the Vancouver game though.

 

[Antropovsky]

When are people going to realize Rielly kind of blows..

Don't get me wrong he does do good things - mainly his transition game. His ability to defend 1 on 1 situations is putrid. He's never proactive in his own zone, he's always chasing the other team around. He's now also become a complete non-factor on the PP.

His first night tonight where he didn't have TJ Brodie to cover his mistakes and he got exposed in a horrible way.

If this ever happens its gonna be a difficult day for Brian Burke ... he will lose the one thing he did in Toronto that he could brag about.

 

[Stephen]

I think he's a bit mislabeled as an offensive defenseman. He's an elite puck-mover, especially in transition and is generally excellent (less so this season) at ancillary offensive things like making pinches and holding the ozone line. A lot of his points are about making the right pass to the right person rather than creating something from nothing.

I don't think Rielly is an elite puck mover. He's not an all situation puck moving defenseman like Kaberle used to be and can't make a lot of plays with control. His best ability is when it's a turnover and the play is very specifically about rushing the puck in a straight line as fast as he can to generate an odd man break.

 

[The Apologist]

When are people going to realize Rielly kind of blows..

Don't get me wrong he does do good things - mainly his transition game. His ability to defend 1 on 1 situations is putrid. He's never proactive in his own zone, he's always chasing the other team around. He's now also become a complete non-factor on the PP.

His first night tonight where he didn't have TJ Brodie to cover his mistakes and he got exposed in a horrible way.

If and when it ever becomes true???
Maybe you should ask yourself why he's had so many two on one's he's apparently defended poorly while he was paired with super defender Brodie?
Kinda odd that such a defensive rock who is saving Riellys ass all the time would allow that to happen so often right?

 

[hockeyes]

The odd part about Rielly is he hasn't really improved at all over the years. Usually defensemen take a few years to figure things out and start to hit their peak around his current age but he just looks the same or worse in almost every aspect since entering the league.

 

[moon111]

Think what freaks me out is seeing him in the Leaf's zone watching the puck. Hello... there's a guy parked in the backdoor and you don't have a clue.

 

[The Iceman]

Reilly needs a break IMO. Emotionally tired, he plays so many minutes certain plays loose importance to him.

I do think he is miscast as a PP1 player. Slow with decisions and weak shot. Love him as a 3 on 3 player.
He constantly chooses the wrong guy in 2 on 2, 3 on 2 situations. Way too frequently lets guys behind him for odd man chance for the goalie to defend.
He could use a week off.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Put literally any other defenseman other than Rielly with Matthews and Marner in OT at this point.

 

[6ix]

Can’t stand this loser. Everyone said once we get him a legit d partner he would be unleashed. Well Brodie has been phenomenal and this clown has somehow gotten worse. Braindead plays, garbage on the PP, can’t play a 2 on 1 if the world depended on it. This is the exact type of guy you move on from instead of handing him an 8 year deal he will never live up to.

 

[Leafsforever89]

Well he is a Norris trophy candidate. He could possibly even finish top 10, but I doubt he wins.

That being said, calling him a "crapshoot" in his own end is a major overstatement. He has high defensive IQ. That doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes or does not take risks that don't pan out, but this guy is not anything like Gardiner or Barrie were in their own zone. Those guys were real crapshoots in their own end.

If Rielly was also a top PKer, he would probably be playing 26-27 minutes a night, which is the most any top defenseman plays unless the rest of their defense is awful and unreliable. Since I think we are doing pretty well with Brodie, Bogosian, Holl, and Muzzin as our main 4 PK guys, I think it is good that we do not need to parade Rielly out for the PK all the time.

Rielly has a low defensive IQ actually. He has no clue how to defend.

 

[shaner82]

I hope they look at a sign and trade instead of signing this guy long term. He's so overrated. Don't want to see him walk for nothing though. I think we could get a nice haul for him

 

[Stephen]

Reilly needs a break IMO. Emotionally tired, he plays so many minutes certain plays loose importance to him.

I do think he is miscast as a PP1 player. Slow with decisions and weak shot. Love him as a 3 on 3 player.
He constantly chooses the wrong guy in 2 on 2, 3 on 2 situations. Way too frequently lets guys behind him for odd man chance for the goalie to defend.
He could use a week off.

Wonder why he would be emotionally tired playing on the strongest regular season team ever. Albeit in a pandemic like everyone else.

 

[Stephen]

I hope they look at a sign and trade instead of signing this guy long term. He's so overrated. Don't want to see him walk for nothing though. I think we could get a nice haul for him

I think a Rielly move would be more likely if the playoff run underachieves since they’ve cut away most of the supporting cast over the past 3 years. Would have to aggressively pivot towards a Dougie Hamilton or make a play for Seth Jones as a number one replacement.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

I was hoping that Holl would be out there when they started the 3 on 3...Reilly really doesn't have a clue as to who to take or what to do in the D-zone. I think his low hockey IQ contributes to the problem. Even offensively he always takes the extra second when going down the wing and ends up circling the net only to give it away or take his weak shot into the goalies chest. How in this day and age of skill development, can you not get a better shot after years of it being the main problem for you as a player? How?

Mitchy who weighs 30lbs less than him worked on his shot over the years and at least he can do something with it...Reilly? nope...still the exact same lame wrister he pops into the chest of the goalie or sends it a mile wide of the net. It's almost comical at this point. If we get bounced again in the 1st round..he has to be traded while we can still get something for him.

 

[Go4soda]

A good skater. But prone to brain cramps, not physical, can’t hit the net. Literally not a shooting threat . I just hope Dubas doesn’t pay big for him.

 

[Bloomberg]

Rielly was at his best when he was paired with Hainsey. He is great at the transition game, one of the best D at that, but he doesn't defend well. He needs to partner that focuses on defense and IMO, he'll be more effective with defensive forwards. I think he's an offensive D, that you shouldn't put out to play against the other teams best line. Rielly's great for what he is, I think it's just people expects aspects of his game that he doesn't have.

 

[Gallagbi]

Rielly was at his best when he was paired with Hainsey. He is great at the transition game, one of the best D at that, but he doesn't defend well. He needs to partner that focuses on defense and IMO, he'll be more effective with defensive forwards. I think he's an offensive D, that you shouldn't put out to play against the other teams best line. Rielly's great for what he is, I think it's just people expects aspects of his game that he doesn't have.

He doesn't face top competition and is currently paired a defensive dman (and has been all year)

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Playing him with Holl is a really bad move as could be seen last night .. and to keep throwing him out there on PP is all on Keefer ... 2 very bad coaching decisions .. he does some things really really well but not defense .. I don't think we will have CAP $$$ for him no matter what .. so he could be a trade candidate this summer .. with Freddy, Rielly and Kerfoot out of town this summer we can start to change team to be much harder to play against and much improved defensively ... we already have enough scoring up front .. maybe we can sign Hyman long term Foligno short term and a true 3rd/4th line defensive centre maybe Nash

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Rielly was at his best when he was paired with Hainsey. He is great at the transition game, one of the best D at that, but he doesn't defend well. He needs to partner that focuses on defense and IMO, he'll be more effective with defensive forwards. I think he's an offensive D, that you shouldn't put out to play against the other teams best line. Rielly's great for what he is, I think it's just people expects aspects of his game that he doesn't have.

Oh my God we’re still doing this? We’re still blaming his flaws on his D-partner? Really? REALLY? Come on now. Brodie is the best defence partner he’s had in his entire career. It’s not Brodie’s fault that Mo is completely ineffective on the powerplay or can’t defend a wet paper bag in OT.

 

[ICBM]

If we get bounced again in the 1st round..he has to be traded while we can still get something for him.

Reilly should have been traded instead of Kadri. Now it's too late. And it's on management. Terrible mistake.
Traded a gritty top-6 winger for nothing. Tried to replace Rielly with Barrie on pp via this trade. No luck. Kept Rielly after 4th!!! in a row playoff fiasco anyways.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

Rielly was at his best when he was paired with Hainsey. He is great at the transition game, one of the best D at that, but he doesn't defend well. He needs to partner that focuses on defense and IMO, he'll be more effective with defensive forwards. I think he's an offensive D, that you shouldn't put out to play against the other teams best line. Rielly's great for what he is, I think it's just people expects aspects of his game that he doesn't have.

I don't think expecting an NHL defenseman to play at a level that even Martin Marincin can play at is 'expecting too much' from him. All we want him to do is play mediocre defense...even that seems like it's out of reach for him at the moment. I really believe that Keefe demoted him by switching partners 1/3 of the way through the game because he sees what we see. Had he started Holl with Reilly I would have believed his shtick...but he swapped him during the game. Why he would start him in overtime is beyond me though....

 

[Havoc]

Have no doubt he'll be a beast in the playoffs and win some people back over.

As for the powerplay...putting rielly on it should be against the law at this point.