Morgan Rielly: Part II

[Leafstreak]

This kid is such an incredible skater and puck-handler. I'm already very excited about the upside he has. It's fun watching him handle the puck with poise and seemingly creating more offence each game. The wading period is over, he's adjusted. This Olympic period will do great things helping him recharge and could see a very strong finish to his season.

Folks, we have a gem here.

 

[Faltorvo]

Keith is a lot more cerebral. Sure he isn't that big, but I'd consider him an all-round shut down defenceman. Amongst younger defenceman, McDonagh is probably a lot more like him. Much like Dion, I wouldn't consider him a natural quarterback either.

On the other hand, Rielly seems more of a very mobile, puck rusher, who generates a lot of that creativity in the neutral zone. Much like Brian Leech, or an Orr-class defenceman. He's going to eat Duncan Keith, Dion Phaneuf as a QB. Hell, he's going to be a beat puck rusher than Pronger ( not his strength). My point is, Rielly is going to be a top pairing defenceman, but I just don't see an all-round upside. Jonas Brodin sure ( he's like a Suter clone), McDonagh sure, but I don't see it in Rielly.

I'm actually starting to think this

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3965

 

[AuraSphere]

He had a terrible game

 

[Liminality]

morgan rielly ‏@mriles4 3m
Thanks for the tweets, if you guys are wondering, front teeth dont go down as smooth as you'd think. #ouch

Damn

He's only going to get better and better.

 

[Pyromaniac3]

Needs to improve his shot big time. Other than that fantastic rusher, and good defensively.

 

[Sittler 27]

Needs to improve his shot big time. Other than that fantastic rusher, and good defensively.

I agree, he improves his shot it will really up his game, love what i'm seeing from him

 

[TootooTrain]

He's not a big man, but he angles out guys better than a 19yo should. This kid is fun to watch.

 

[MarkLeftBehind]

I love the kid, but he had a fairly poor game tonight; he was holding onto the puck too long and turning it over. He has such a great pass that he needs to utilize it just as much if not more than his excellent puck carrying ability.

 

[mikebel111*]

terrible stat

but rielly has a +- of even in his last 29 games. he is improving which is great. even despite this stat, on the ice, he is getting more confident and those rookie errors are not showing up as much now.

 

[diceman934]

terrible stat

but rielly has a +- of even in his last 29 games. he is improving which is great. even despite this stat, on the ice, he is getting more confident and those rookie errors are not showing up as much now.

He is often used as the Vet of a pairing. He is playing his weakside and doing so very well. Thus far he is still be a little on the conservative side offensively, but will start trying more things as the year moves on....this from a player who far to many on here thought that he should go back to the Jaw and then follow it up with some time in the AHL....

 

[Shanty]

He's not a big man, but he angles out guys better than a 19yo should. This kid is fun to watch.

He and Gardiner seem to have the same capabilities defensively. Great defenders off the rush (Surprisingly good in fact) but not so great once a cycle is established in our zone.

 

[mikebel111*]

He and Gardiner seem to have the same capabilities defensively. Great defenders off the rush (Surprisingly good in fact) but not so great once a cycle is established in our zone.

there was this one play on Saturday which annoyed me about gardiner, it also cost us a goal against vs Ottawa, in Ottawa.

it was, he is behind own net, he looks behind for the forward and reacts a little late and gardiner is pinned, he had a chance to look for a split second and move the puck. but he looks at forward a little too long which made him trapped.

 

[7even]

He and Gardiner seem to have the same capabilities defensively. Great defenders off the rush (Surprisingly good in fact) but not so great once a cycle is established in our zone.

I come away with almost the opposite impression. Rielly's boardwork has been surprisingly good. But defending 2-on-1's, heh, he might be the worst 2-on-1 defender I've seen since Andy Wozniewski.

Yes he's 19, no I'm not disappointed with him. He's looking like he's going to be a great player.

 

[A1LeafNation]

My question is if this is Rielly's rookie year, what is everyone going to say about his sophomore slump next season?

Maybe he goes up(NHL) and down(AHL) next year?

 

[Community]

My question is if this is Rielly's rookie year, what is everyone going to say about his sophomore slump next season?

Maybe he goes up(NHL) and down(AHL) next year?

I find it hilarious how everybody always assumes a player will have a sophomore slump... Like it's a 100% sure thing. Needless to say, Rielly is a player that makes it easier to forget his gaffs (if he plays poor defensively) because of his offense. With Schenn it was harder because he was solely a DFD (I was/am a fan of his though).

I'll make the bold prediction that Rielly doesn't slump and is our #3 Defender next year (Gunnar-Phaneuf pairing doesn't seem likely to change....) I'm hoping he ends up getting 2nd unit PK time, 1st PP time, and 2nd pairing minutes.

 

[Pi]

I come away with almost the opposite impression. Rielly's boardwork has been surprisingly good. But defending 2-on-1's, heh, he might be the worst 2-on-1 defender I've seen since Andy Wozniewski.

Yes he's 19, no I'm not disappointed with him. He's looking like he's going to be a great player.

True. Rielly's got strong legs and he's a great skater..I was surprised by how physical he was along the boards.

I think he does a great job along the boards and comes out with the puck more often than not. He really needs to improve his defense against 2 on 1's because the Leafs are usually going to be in a lot of them

 

[TheJet11]

Let's take a look back into the memory bank and compare Rielly's rookie season to that of our last "highly-touted" 5th overall pick - Luke Schenn.

Many people were thrilled with the work Schenn did in his first season with the Leafs (also as a teenager).

Schenn: GP 70, G 2, A 12, PIM 71mins, +/- -12.
Rielly: GP 52, G 2, A 17, PIM 12mins, +/- -12.

All in all, I'm very happy with what Rielly has given us so far, and he has shown consistently better play as the season goes on. Unlike Schenn, I think Rielly has a much greater ceiling as am all-purpose defenseman. His offensive acumen is already superior to what Schenn displayed, and while Rielly isn't considered to be a strong a defender - he has played at an Even +/- for quite a while now.

I totally agree with the above sentiment that Rielly could be our #3 defenseman next season, with plenty of upside left to rate even higher as he develops!

... Call me crazy too, but with all the talk of us needing a RH defensive defenseman, I wonder if PHI would retain some salary and trade us Schenn back for, say... a 4th round pick. Haha, after fleecing them in the JVR trade, and with Schenn sitting in the press box early in the season, I bet his value is pretty low right now. If used properly (as a bottom six defensive guy) I think Schenn could be a Gleason type of player.

Schenn is +10 in his last 5 games, and seems to have finally found his game.

*Before you all blow up on me, I realize that Schenn will NEVER be back in the blue and white. Just wanted to spark some chatter for our Olympic Break entertainment!

 

[Warden of the North]

Sophomore slumps are also at times a creation of fan expectations. When a player is a rookie fans tend to be very forgiving and often times forgetful of mistakes. In subsequent seasons those mistakes are not forgiven.

I find it hilarious how everybody always assumes a player will have a sophomore slump... Like it's a 100% sure thing. Needless to say, Rielly is a player that makes it easier to forget his gaffs (if he plays poor defensively) because of his offense. With Schenn it was harder because he was solely a DFD (I was/am a fan of his though).

I'll make the bold prediction that Rielly doesn't slump and is our #3 Defender next year (Gunnar-Phaneuf pairing doesn't seem likely to change....) I'm hoping he ends up getting 2nd unit PK time, 1st PP time, and 2nd pairing minutes.

 

[Havoc]

This guy is so fun to watch

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Sophomore slumps are also at times a creation of fan expectations. When a player is a rookie fans tend to be very forgiving and often times forgetful of mistakes. In subsequent seasons those mistakes are not forgiven.

And that's partly why fans seem to have fond memories of Schenn's rookie season but not his sophomore season, even though neither were particularly good. I mean his rookie season was good for an 18-year old straight out of juniors, but that's it.

 

[Beleafer4]

Morgan rielly thinks the game like karlsson but he has a different skillset (mainly he is bigger but his shot is worse). I think he will be able to reach 50-60 points easy. He has amazing hands.

Defensively though he still has a long way to go. Too tentative on the opposing team, gets beaten wide a lot which is wierd considering his skating, terrible on 2 on 1s and has weak gap control. Tbh I dont ever expect rielly to be a 2 way force but I do think that in his prime he will be above average defensively.

 

[diceman934]

Morgan rielly thinks the game like karlsson but he has a different skillset (mainly he is bigger but his shot is worse). I think he will be able to reach 50-60 points easy. He has amazing hands.

Defensively though he still has a long way to go. Too tentative on the opposing team, gets beaten wide a lot which is wierd considering his skating, terrible on 2 on 1s and has weak gap control. Tbh I dont ever expect rielly to be a 2 way force but I do think that in his prime he will be above average defensively.

He does not get beat wide a lot....it has happen and it does to all d man at times....you will notice that he is never beat to the middle as that is the lane that he needs to protect and as far as 2 on1 goes....he is playing the same way that all of our D man have been playing this recently....His gap control has been better and better as the year has gone on and in recent games with Gleason has been near perfect. Gap control is a team issue as it is hard to step up with no back pressure and recently the team has been better in this area which allows our D man to control the Defensive Blue line...

You may have noticed that all d man have been more aggressive at our blueline as a result of back pressure from our forwards.

His play in his own end has been above average overall, he is tentative at times as he reads the ice and his team mates better then any other D man we have, this causes him to look tentative but in most cases it is his Hockey IQ and him reading D zone rotations and making adjustments.

 

[BIitz]

I made the comparison last year I'll make it again this year. He's going to be exactly like Yandle. They both love to just rush the puck. They can both move it with good vision and passes, but more often than not they use their great speed to get into odd man rushes. I don't really like the comparison to Karlsson or Keith. And Letang is much more of a "wild card". His game is virtually identical to Yandles in my mind.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Whats exciting is that this kid has at least 3-4 years ahead of him before he peaks physically

 

[7even]

Whats exciting is that this kid has at least 3-4 years ahead of him before he peaks physically

Cracks me up whenever I see some other team's fan call him "undersized" when he's 6'1 205 at 19