Mo Rielly - "Our Norris Trophy Candidate"

[JT AM da real deal]

Just a brutal defensive game by Rielly last night with Hutch in net ... on for every Oilers goal ... one his fault entirely ... one partly his fault ... and one he could not make a superstar play to get us out of trouble which Norris level guys make routinely ... so much defensive weakness with Rielly ... I think our worst defender right now of 6 we got

 

[cannucky]

I dislike Rielly on the PP only when the team is set up in the ozone ... I dont like his shot, he is not creative passer and often ends a good pass around with a wrist shot to net instead of continuing with the puck possession and passing off.... i do like him on the rush and he does move around in the ozone and his speed defensively if something goes wrong

Agreed but the biggest flaw in his offensive game in my eyes is the fact he hangs around below the circle forcing a forward to rotate high in his place , this usually ends up being Marner and I for one would rather have one of the leagues best playmakers down low instead of Morgan Reilly . It's the little things eh . Watch successful teams their guys will cycle down make their play then immediately rotate back to their position but Reilly routinely lingers then gets trapped , half the time he just looks at the rafters instead of even trying to recover .

 

[LeafGrief]

You want an example of a real Norris candidate ? How about some simple stats on Cale Makar . 22 points in 22 games with a +12 and he's rock solid in his own end . Thats a Norris candidate and I don't give a damn about the sword swallowing fanboy's who think its cool to crack on people that have probably been around longer than them just because they don't drink the cool aid .

Honestly, this is just another sad-sack post of someone who can't handle a Leaf player not being top5 in the league at their position. Good for Makar being better than Rielly and a Norris candidate. You have managed to completely miss the intent, tone, and spirit of my post. In particular you can take the blatant homophobia in your post and get f***ed.

 

[Avilaj07]

I've been saying it since mid season last year. Rielly is not an all star caliber defenseman. He's a Torrey Krug and even then it seems Krug has better offensive instincts. If I'm Dubas, I'm definitely looking at moving Rielly if not in season then definitely off season.

 

[1specter]

Good to see the hot takes come out after one bad game. March has probably been Rielly's best month and he was good in February too. The first month was rough and I was concerned but he's been good since then.

 

[Stephen]

I said he can be ... so your saying Tampa coach is heavily into defensive match ups, with that power house of an offence? I think if anything other teams are keeping there top offensive lines away from the Hedman/point line ... McDonagh-Cernak seem to play the muzzin.Holl role

Victor Hedman is also Norse God who dominates every inch of the 200 feet of ice who Tampa, and they rotate in reclamation projects like Schenn and Bogosian to play with him with confidence. The idea that they're trying to get him away from the top lines is just an incorrect narrative when he's munching up 30 minutes of icetime per game in the postseason. More likely, if we played the Lightning, you'd expect Sheldon Keefe to get Matthews and Marner up against Cernak and McDonagh.

With regards to Rielly, I would actually say Muzzin Holl would come closer to being our Cernak and McDonagh in terms of play style.

 

[zeke]

Victor Hedman is also Norse God who dominates every inch of the 200 feet of ice who Tampa, and they rotate in reclamation projects like Schenn and Bogosian to play with him with confidence. The idea that they're trying to get him away from the top lines is just an incorrect narrative when he's munching up 30 minutes of icetime per game in the postseason. More likely, if we played the Lightning, you'd expect Sheldon Keefe to get Matthews and Marner up against Cernak and McDonagh.

With regards to Rielly, I would actually say Muzzin Holl would come closer to being our Cernak and McDonagh in terms of play style.

Hedman actually plays a sheltered role with the McDonagh pairing taking all the tough matchups. Been that way for years now. And Hedman doesn't even put up good defensive numbers in those matchups.

Rielly otoh has always been on the top matchup pair against all the top lines....until this year where the topn2 pairs are getting an even split matchup wise....and not surprisingly, in this the first year Rielly has a decent partner and doesn't face extreme competition his analytics have gone through the roof and he's posting a top-10 xgf%.

It's funny because Hedman is actually the all offense not great defense guy. But he's really big.

 

[zeke]

Just a brutal defensive game by Rielly last night with Hutch in net ... on for every Oilers goal ... one his fault entirely ... one partly his fault ... and one he could not make a superstar play to get us out of trouble which Norris level guys make routinely ... so much defensive weakness with Rielly ... I think our worst defender right now of 6 we got

Actually it was brodie that had the poor defensive game hanging out rielly to dry on both goals with some very poor decisions.

 

[zeke]

Even Strength xGF% (min 500min)

1. COL Toews 63.7
2. NYI Pelech 63.0
3. COL Girard 61.6
4. NYI Pulock 59.9
5. NYR Lindgren 58.1
6. NYR Fox 58.0
7. TOR Rielly 56.6
8. MTL Weber 56.2
9. CGY Tanev 56.2
10. TOR Brodie 56.2

 

[Gallagbi]

Actually it was brodie that had the poor defensive game hanging out rielly to dry on both goals with some very poor decisions.

Not sure why Rielly didn't back-up properly on that first goal. He's the support therr and cheated for the offensive play. His whole role is to play off that potential mistake on it

Second one was all Brodie and his brain freeze

 

[Leafs87]

I like Rielly as much as the next guy. Looking at the leafs cap situation, it almost makes more sense to get value for him and move him. Re-signing him and moving the pieces could end up making the team worse. His next contract is likely 7-8.5 mil.
Move Dermott up and bring Sandin in.

 

[zeke]

Not sure why Rielly didn't back-up properly on that first goal. He's the support therr and cheated for the offensive play. His whole role is to play off that potential mistake on it

Second one was all Brodie and his brain freeze

Brodie had no business pinching there.

 

[koyvoo]

And those are clearly the 10 best and most influential defenders in the league. They’d go 1 to 10 for defensemen in a league wide redraft.

Good heavens people. Watch more hockey. Centre Ice, streams. Lots of ways to watch games across the league.

 

[Gallagbi]

Brodie had no business pinching there.

Hes got support....or should have.

Strong side stays in, forwards back pressure, Rielly plays the support role and backs up his partner

 

[Gary Nylund]

And those are clearly the 10 best and most influential defenders in the league. They’d go 1 to 10 for defensemen in a league wide redraft.

Good heavens people. Watch more hockey. Centre Ice, streams. Lots of ways to watch games across the league.

Yeah but what can watching games tell you that a spreadsheet can't?

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Actually it was brodie that had the poor defensive game hanging out rielly to dry on both goals with some very poor decisions.

You clearly never played defense competitively before to make a FAN comment like that ... if he was not a vet wearing an A he would have been benched rest of game after 2nd goal against ... this is cruel world of playing pro defense ... if it was a young guy like Dermy maybe even on waivers ... this is life in da shark tank of pro hockey

 

[Gallagbi]

Yeah but what can watching games tell you that a spreadsheet can't?

There's a reason teams do both, but I also doubt most of the fans here are watching any more than 1- non Leafs game a night, which doesn't give the biggest or best sample.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Even Strength xGF% (min 500min)

1. COL Toews 63.7
2. NYI Pelech 63.0
3. COL Girard 61.6
4. NYI Pulock 59.9
5. NYR Lindgren 58.1
6. NYR Fox 58.0
7. TOR Rielly 56.6
8. MTL Weber 56.2
9. CGY Tanev 56.2
10. TOR Brodie 56.2

Ya don’t think that has more to do with the forwards? Rielly has been feeding his points off of the powerplay this year.

 

[zeke]

And those are clearly the 10 best and most influential defenders in the league. They’d go 1 to 10 for defensemen in a league wide redraft.

Good heavens people. Watch more hockey. Centre Ice, streams. Lots of ways to watch games across the league.

It's funny that you think your opinion on the Big Name Dmen comes from you watching them instead of just from their reputation.

You should watch players like Pelech, Toews, and Girard, Fox more. Fantastic dmen that should be in the Norris convo.

Come to think of it, you should watch the likes of Hedman, Jones, Carlson, etc in their own end more closely too.

 

[zeke]

Ya don’t think that has more to do with the forwards? Rielly has been feeding his points off of the powerplay this year.

That has nothing to do with points, and that doesn't even include PP anyways.

 

[mapleleaf979]

Brodie had no business pinching there.

Brodie made the right decision to try and keep that puck in at the line. Given the puck was in the air and he tried to use his skate, Reilly should have known there was some risk there and backed up.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It's funny that you think your opinion on the Big Name Dmen comes from you watching them instead of just from their reputation.

You should watch players like Pelech, Toews, and Girard, Fox more. Fantastic dmen that should be in the Norris convo.

Come to think of it, you should watch the likes of Hedman, Jones, Carlson, etc in their own end more closely too.

How much have you watched these guys play this season?

I'm no stats expert but it seems to me that xGF% needs more context, the first thing that occurs to me is how often do these guys start in the Ozone? That's not the only thing either.

Sorting players by any one stat is rarely very meaningful, JMHO.

 

[HC7]

Rielly is Tyson Barrie in a disguise.

Every night Holl, Muzzin, Brodie rarely give up chances which helps our entire team by not putting any unneeded pressure on the G or forwards by having to make a big save or score at lot of goals to make up for giving up so many high end chances.

Then dog shit Rielly comes along every other shift and starts pinching like he's prime Erik Karlsson. He has the same even strength points as Muzzin meanwhile he plays with Matthews or JT every shift, and Muzzin plays the hardest minutes against top lines with Mikheyev and Engvall.

I honestly always thought Rielly was an elite D-Man but now that I've seen the way Muzzin, and Brodie play, it's evident he's not even in the same stratosphere as them. He has been the 4th best D for the team this yea, and it makes no sense to have your 4th best D giving up so many chances while creating the same 5 on 5 as Muzzin who has been one of the best defensively in the league.

If somehow the Leafs could flip Rielly, Andersen and a lot extra for Gibson and Lindholm, or some varient of a competent G, and a 2 Way DMan like Muzzin or Brodie then the Leafs would be cup favourites.

 

[zeke]

How much have you watched these guys play this season?

I'm no stats expert but it seems to me that xGF% needs more context, the first thing that occurs to me is how often do these guys start in the Ozone? That's not the only thing either.

Sorting players by any one stat is rarely very meaningful, JMHO.

Pelech Girard and Toews not only get the tough zone starts for their teams but get all the top matchups as well.

Meanwhile a guy like Makar racks up nice offense in the easier matchups and on the PP and gets all the hype.

 

[zeke]

Brodie made the right decision to try and keep that puck in at the line. Given the puck was in the air and he tried to use his skate, Reilly should have known there was some risk there and backed up.

It was a terrible pinch.