Morgan Rielly and the bat**** crazy takes
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Decent? He’s the 6th highest scoring defenseman during the last 5 years. I guess you can ask for more, but it will cost you. As to your desire for a big, strong talented defence oriented player, sure. But, why not look at that player filling one of our other 5 spots, a Muzzin type, who might not match Jake’s offence, but takes no prisoners. That would be great. But, in a league where every team is looking for a Dman who can add to their offence…we have a good one. He shouldn’t be undervalued.
I love Rielly but in a way I think his injury may have benefited the team (obviously in the short term I mean). Sandin and Liljegren getting more time and responsibility and showing they can handle it has been great for their development. Holl and Gio together has been really solid and Holl is playing way better than before. Now replacing Mete/Hollowell with Rielly/Brodie while this team and other units playing as well defensively as they are is pretty phenomenal.
Very, very, good comment.
SprDaVE
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- Sep 20, 2008
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This is like when Matthews was injured and the Leafs won a bunch of games. Or when Marner goes down with an injury and the Leafs have a positive win/loss. It really doesn't mean that they aren't much needed players.
Rielly is a really good defenseman that brings a ton of experience, that can log high amounts of minutes and fantastic offensively. Let's not close our eyes to his positive impact. Is he perfect? No. Does he have some bad games? Yes. Is he great defensively? Probably not.
But you'd have to be crazy that this recent winning streak means Rielly or Brodie or whoever are not needed on this team.
Rielly is a really good defenseman that brings a ton of experience, that can log high amounts of minutes and fantastic offensively. Let's not close our eyes to his positive impact. Is he perfect? No. Does he have some bad games? Yes. Is he great defensively? Probably not.
But you'd have to be crazy that this recent winning streak means Rielly or Brodie or whoever are not needed on this team.
I think putting Rielly-Brodie back together is the key. The other two pairs have been great. I don't want to see Sandin on the right side again unless Muzzin comes back or we trade for another LD.
Brodie is the guy who should always be flipping.
Sandin-Liljegren playing this well is encouraging and we need to let them start taking the reigns a bit.
Still need to get a long term RD for Rielly whether that is Niemela or not we have a year and a half to figure that out.
Morgan is a leader for sure .. and he is a drafted guy of team .. and he can fly for sure .. and gets his points yes .. lots of great attributes .. but question for TEAM is "Is team better defensively without Rielly?" .. it is still TBD but with Holl really playing much smarter and staying in his zone our defenders look superb .. this past week only goes to get folks thinking maybe we can spend our CAP issues in a better place .. as this goes beyond ANY player .. when you need to make numbers work in business you always look at cutting bigger numbers at top of org 1st as they have biggest bang for da buck .. one of reasons why you are far better off owning businesses rather than working for any .. but back to Rielly I like him a lot but he may be a guy we can play without .. more learnings over next month for sure
If you don't think Rielly is a "legit 1D", then you're not signing a "legit 1D" in UFA for 9m.
Morgan Reilly is a Maple Leafs for LIFE. He's not going anywhere. He will retire here.
Martin Skoula
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- Oct 18, 2017
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Not a perennial Norris contender but if someone like Slavin was UFA this year I think 9 would do it. That or "downgrade" to another Brodie at ~5 if we're doing defense by committee.
I'm sure this will turn into a debate about his xG or whatever but at the end of the day I don't trust the guy to defend a lead late in a game 7 and that's a problem for your highest paid D.
It's not the end of the world, we have room for a Lindholm/Parayko contract with Muzzin's LTIR, you just have to get luckier to find those.
What are the metrics that make him 1D? Genuinely curious. Points?
Having Reilly usually leads to the Leafs having the lead to protect. Then you play your shutdown pair late in the game.
Makar and Josi make 1.5m and 2.25m more per season than Rielly respectively, and Hedman would be similar. He’s only close because of when his deal was signed and the fact he plays in a no tax state where the team is very good, like Tampa. Morgan Rielly is absolutely a #1 D, he just doesn’t belong in the same group as those elite guys. He’s fits more in that next tier down.
Letting Rielly walk to free up his 7.5m cap in hopes that a better #1 shakes lose is a fools game. It really doesn’t happens all that much. Last one was Pietrangelo (whose contract is fine at the moment, but is super risky over the term), and I’m not even sure off the top of my head who would be before that. Odds are you end up with no one in that scenario more often than not.
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Maple Leafs Commentary: Morgan Rielly, Better than Fans Think - The Hockey Writers Toronto Maple Leafs Latest News, Analysis & More
Morgan Rielly is the Toronto Maple Leafs best defensemen. Why is he a better defensively player than fans think?
thehockeywriters.com
Pretty fair assessment about Reilly. Points out his strengths and shortcomings
I've no issue with your take. Team first. And I am quite willing to admit that his defensive game is lacking. However, every team needs someone who can contribute from the back end. Rielly provides that as well or better than most, and at a contract hit that is commensurate with his ranking as a dman and his years in the league. If, as some have argued, we need this imposing, responsible dman, who takes no shit and contributes in the ozone, sure I'd love him. Please point him out and tell me how we get him. But, I suspect he's going to cost us in ways we wouldn't like. Rielly alone wouldn't get him, who would we add, because that guy is a stud. I'd also suggest that some have conveniently forgotten how effective Brodie and Rielly have been as a pair. Ya, weak early this year, but the body of evidence has proven they're on the ice for many more goals than they give up. As @DragoGrizzly mentioned, "Now replacing Mete/Hollowell with Rielly/Brodie while this team and other units playing as well defensively as they are is pretty phenomenal."
Except not only is Slavin not a UFA this year (he has 3 years left on his deal, and will likely be re-signed afterward at age 31), but I don't see any reason to consider him a "legit 1D" and not Rielly, let alone a 1.5m+ difference. Either way, you can't just not sign your great players because some imaginary "grass is greener" defenseman may or may not become available at some point down the line.
I love Brodie, and I'd take another one of him in a heartbeat, but you don't need to get rid of Rielly to do that. And quite frankly, we already struggle to get production from the backend more than we struggle defending.
Martin Skoula
Registered User
- Oct 18, 2017
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Mugzy97
#StandWitness
That list of partners is embarrassing. We've never got to witness Rielly with a good partner except when he played internationally, and every time he played on an international team he arguably looked like a the best defensemen in the tournaments.
Bad, because our goalies give up early softies while the opposition goalies with Vezinas/Cups/Harts/Lindsays/Conn Smythes/playoff records on their shelves are channeling prime Hasek. I don't know why we're blaming Rielly for that.
Rielly tilts the ice in our favour 23 minutes a night. He has his flaws, which he more than makes up for with his otherworldly transition game. It should come as no surprise to anyone that on a team built around superstar forwards, we want to have one of the best puck rushers in the game on our team. Rielly gets the puck up the ice and away from our net as well as anyone in the league.
He's not great in his own end. He works hard and makes some good plays, probably about a #4 in terms of actual defensive ability. Gets caught puck watching and makes mistakes (which every player in the league does). Not that great on the PP either. But what actually matters is the hockey player in the balance contributes far more good than bad when he's on the ice. He'll get burned for goals that a better defender wouldn't, but he's still a terrific player in the sum of things.
He's also a playoff monster and a leader for this team. IMO, if we were to dynamite the entire team, of the veterans Rielly is #2 on my list of players to keep behind only Matthews.
He's not great in his own end. He works hard and makes some good plays, probably about a #4 in terms of actual defensive ability. Gets caught puck watching and makes mistakes (which every player in the league does). Not that great on the PP either. But what actually matters is the hockey player in the balance contributes far more good than bad when he's on the ice. He'll get burned for goals that a better defender wouldn't, but he's still a terrific player in the sum of things.
He's also a playoff monster and a leader for this team. IMO, if we were to dynamite the entire team, of the veterans Rielly is #2 on my list of players to keep behind only Matthews.
There's literally only like 3 guys claiming we're better without Rielly, and they're being ridiculed by the rest of the fan base. Don't give them attention for making ridiculous claims like that lol
