Speculation: Morgan Rielly (Reporting to Marlies march 20th!) 2nd Star in Debut

[Pi]

This is what people misinterpret. Could he play in the NHL is irrelevant. Has he worked hard enough to earn it? That's what matters, and if u prove u belong, u will belong for a long time

People are blind because they see Kadri putting up points after being in the AHL for two years.

They would probably put a Tavares type prospect in the AHL for two years just because of what Kadri is doing right now.

 

[dimi78]

This is what people misinterpret. Could he play in the NHL is irrelevant. Has he worked hard enough to earn it? That's what matters, and if u prove u belong, u will belong for a long time

IMO Rielly is NHL ready just like how Kadri was 2 years ago the decision to keep Rielly in the NHL next season should be entirely if the Leafs could put him in a situation to succeed.

What is this "put him in a situation to succeed"? Depends on who his D partner would be and how quickly on ice chemistry is developed so there's a benefit to having him on the team in helping the TEAM win games. Not just with who his D partner is but the forwards on the team as well ON ICE CHEMISTRY IS THE KEY. The faster these 2 factors are developed the faster he will be in the NHL.

This isn't Morgan Rielly's team, nor is it Kadri's , Phaneuf's, Kessel's etc. This is the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS he has to fit in to help the TEAM win games and even though he's NHL ready + super talented if that situation to succeed isn't there the best course would be back to jr and be an injury call up like 99% of all rookies get there chance at the NHL level.

Patience people he's going to be special just like Kadri, Gardiner and both Kessel, Phaneuf are moving forward.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

People are blind because they see Kadri putting up points after being in the AHL for two years.

They would probably put a Tavares type prospect in the AHL for two years just because of what Kadri is doing right now.

TBH, Tavares is a bit of a different player to compare Kadri to. JT was atleast average defensively while his lacking area was skating, which was sub par. Kadri had all the skill in the world but the timing was off, along with below average defense. The patience in the AHL, prolly a year or half a year too long though, did help him IMO. Not to mention also should've helped how the **** storm of the toronto media works, not just in the NHL but even in the AHL.

 

[Penalty Kill Icing*]

Fact: Rielly has already spent more time in junior post-draft than Schenn did.

Fact: Rielly is a much better prospect than Schenn was.

Fact: Rielly is more NHL ready than Kadri was after his draft year.

Morgan Rielly will be on the Leafs next year.

Fact: only one of those statements is actually a fact

This!

No offense, but only the first one is a fact. Rest are all speculations.
Fact: You are unclear on what is meant by a fact.

 

[FlareKnight]

In terms of where Rielly will play next year who knows. Every guy has a different timetable.

Regardless this will be a good experience for Rielly. Playing against a higher level of competition on frankly a much better team than he had in MJ. Should be fun to see him in some games.

 

[Kurisu]

probably best for him to spend another year in junior like Pietrangelo did. Would rather have him perform like a star from the beginning.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

probably best for him to spend another year in junior like Pietrangelo did. Would rather have him perform like a star from the beginning.

Rielly is offensively, skill wise, skating and very likely body wise ready for the bigs. His defensive game in the Juniors though is around the average area if not below IMO. So I would want him to return but then again destiny is in his hands if he shows he has improved his two-way game then yea sure, come on up.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

IMO Rielly is NHL ready just like how Kadri was 2 years ago the decision to keep Rielly in the NHL next season should be entirely if the Leafs could put him in a situation to succeed.

What is this "put him in a situation to succeed"? Depends on who his D partner would be and how quickly on ice chemistry is developed so there's a benefit to having him on the team in helping the TEAM win games. Not just with who his D partner is but the forwards on the team as well ON ICE CHEMISTRY IS THE KEY. The faster these 2 factors are developed the faster he will be in the NHL.

This isn't Morgan Rielly's team, nor is it Kadri's , Phaneuf's, Kessel's etc. This is the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS he has to fit in to help the TEAM win games and even though he's NHL ready + super talented if that situation to succeed isn't there the best course would be back to jr and be an injury call up like 99% of all rookies get there chance at the NHL level.

Patience people he's going to be special just like Kadri, Gardiner and both Kessel, Phaneuf are moving forward.

Rielly had NHL ice Q this summer in the subway series, all he needed was a full season when he missed a year last year.

With this under him, he is much more ready to step into the NHL, I think he will benefit with playing with better talented players. His vision and smarts will be better showcased with the Leafs. He is the best passer, skater, smartest D man in the org. All he needs is to be allowed to make mistakes and learn, physically he is a mature man, he's pretty strong as his draft testing points to. It's only a matter of time till we see him up with the big club.

 

[diceman934]

I don't want Rielly with the leafs next year. Patience is a virtue, look at Kadri. Eakins is a genius and knows how to deal with talented youngsters. I fully expect Rielly to either return to OHL next season or spend the whole season under Eakin's wings. He's only 19 for christ's sake. Let him develop for another year to hone his skills for the big leagues.

Eakins is a genius? He played Kadri on the wing until Carlyle told him to play him in the middle. Rielly plays in the WHL and not the OHL and can not play in the AHL next year only the NHL or the WHL.

 

[diceman934]

TBH, Tavares is a bit of a different player to compare Kadri to. JT was atleast average defensively while his lacking area was skating, which was sub par. Kadri had all the skill in the world but the timing was off, along with below average defense. The patience in the AHL, prolly a year or half a year too long though, did help him IMO. Not to mention also should've helped how the **** storm of the toronto media works, not just in the NHL but even in the AHL.

You do realize that Kadri had the best plus minus of any Leaf at his first training camp as well as leading them in points......he was never below average as a defensive player and maybe you should talk to Dale Hunter about this. Dale Hunter loves defensive hockey and he stated that Kadri was a top player and deserved to mention in the same conversation as JT. It appears that he was correct....

 

[Lebanese Leaf]

This!

No offense, but only the first one is a fact. Rest are all speculations.
Fact: You are unclear on what is meant by a fact.

Rielly > Schenn at the time of their drafts, it's not close. Just because something can't be verified statistically, doesn't mean it's not a fact. So according to you, we can't say that Seth Jones is a better prospect than Luke Schenn was at the time of his draft?

 

[Leaf Rocket]

You do realize that Kadri had the best plus minus of any Leaf at his first training camp as well as leading them in points......he was never below average as a defensive player and maybe you should talk to Dale Hunter about this. Dale Hunter loves defensive hockey and he stated that Kadri was a top player and deserved to mention in the same conversation as JT. It appears that he was correct....

OHL defense is a lot different than NHL defense. Not to mention the fact Kadri couldn't cover the puck properly in the past, no matter his skill or points. I don't have to bring out videos to know how kadri's puck coverage back then was and how it is now, and it's for sure much much better. Heck when I saw him in the beginning of the season in the Marlies, he's improved quite a bit from then. Yes hunter made a bold claim and it seems to be true although I am uncertain. I obviously hope that he is correct and Kadri can be tagged in that level of players because that's what leaf nations need oh so badly.

 

[SeenSchenn2]

As an aside:

Hopefully Eakins & co. can help Komisarek out a little. It's a shame about his salary, because he's an NHL defenseman. That's not in question.

 

[Faltorvo]

Rielly is physically mature at 6.5 205 lbs, unlike Kadri when he was a 18 year old. The only thing keeping Rielly from the NHL is the numbers game, but that may change at the trade deadline. I'm confident in saying Riellly will prove to be an elite talent in the NHL, said that in Sept, said that in Jan, and I am repeating it here again.

UMM what? Reils is 6 foot 190lb

 

[member 147413]

UMM what? Reils is 6 foot 190lb

At the combine he was measured in at 6ft .05inch (so half an inch) and 199lbs, apparently he's put on some weight to get to 205lbs.

He's built.

 

[Faltorvo]

Bring on the haters, if not hurt Rielly could have gone higher and he flew totally under the radar becuase everyone was all over galchenyuk (myself included).

While I believe if we did have the #1 overall selection we wouldn't have picked Rielly, watching him play in the whl is a treat to watch, its like rielly is playing with midget players out there, while being on one of the worst teams in the league. I don't remember the #'s but I think like 40-60% of there goals he had something to do with, before he left for the wjc ofc

Haters? WTf are you talking about kid.

Folks want to keep him back to better ensure his development curve, thats it, thats all.

 

[Faltorvo]

At the combine he was measured in at 6ft .05inch (so half an inch) and 199lbs, apparently he's put on some weight to get to 205lbs.

He's built.

Then HF needs to update their GD site.

AH 6.05 not 6.5 as what was posted.

 

[Sonny21]

Haters? WTf are you talking about kid.

Folks want to keep him back to better ensure his development curve, thats it, thats all.

Well put.

 

[sommervr]

At the combine he was measured in at 6ft .05inch (so half an inch) and 199lbs, apparently he's put on some weight to get to 205lbs.

He's built.

I was surprised at the strength numbers from the combine. Rielly was one of the stronger ones but really all of them were pretty bad.

I remember working out with DeBrusk when he was a 17 y/o and that kid was a stud (300+ bench press)

 

[Sergei Berezin]

I was surprised at the strength numbers from the combine. Rielly was one of the stronger ones but really all of them were pretty bad.

I remember working out with DeBrusk when he was a 17 y/o and that kid was a stud (300+ bench press)

Nothing impressive about an NHL player benching too much over 300. I think the max I'd want any NHL player to bench is 315 (3 plates) but that's only for defensive defencemen or fighters. Most NHLers shouldn't go much higher than 225.

 

[maplehawk]

Nothing impressive about an NHL player benching too much over 300. I think the max I'd want any NHL player to bench is 315 (3 plates) but that's only for defensive defencemen or fighters. Most NHLers shouldn't go much higher than 225.

Wait a minute. Are you imposing a limit on how much a player on your team can bench press?

What on earth...?

 

[thatshype]

Wait a minute. Are you imposing a limit on how much a player on your team can bench press?

What on earth...?

I think his point is that its way more critical to be able to leg-press/squat a lot of weight instead of benching. Legs, core (stomach), and torso (lower back, obliques) are far more important than having a built upper body. For most players, hockey is all about skating....and at it's purest form, any muscle group that doesn't help with skating just adds more weight for the player to push around the ice.

I personally don't have a problem with a jacked upper body on a player, but it's obviously wayyyy more important for them to have huge quads/glutes.

 

[thatshype]

Rielly > Schenn at the time of their drafts, it's not close. Just because something can't be verified statistically, doesn't mean it's not a fact. So according to you, we can't say that Seth Jones is a better prospect than Luke Schenn was at the time of his draft?

The only way this can be verified is by taking an extensive poll of ACTUAL pro scouts. I'm not talking about the hockeysfuture rating, or any of those ranking websites or whatnot....I'm talking about actually talking to the scouts themselves 1-on-1. I can GUARANTEE you'd find a lot of discrepancies among the people that do it for a living. There's 100s of pro-scouts out there and obviously they aren't going to agree.

So what he meant is that it's all very subjective. Scouts are going to put different weighting on different criteria, and it's going to skew the results. If ranking prospects was an exact science, the Draft wouldn't need to even happen live....they'd just assign the #25th ranked player to the #25th ranked team. Fortunately, it's not black-and-white like that.

 

[pooleboy]

People are blind because they see Kadri putting up points after being in the AHL for two years.

They would probably put a Tavares type prospect in the AHL for two years just because of what Kadri is doing right now.

well i do agree, playing for the NYI and TOR are two entirely different things. For example the Leafs are finally coming out of a playoff drought and need to make the playoffs. now for example lets say we played morgan rielly and he plays very well and we in the playoff race. Now, lets say he make a bonehead mistake that every rookie will make, however, since being in toronto that player gets reminded of it, asked about it and sleeps about the mistake he might have cost his team. THAT loss of confidence is worth sending a player down and getting a high with a worse team. Confidence is huge with young players, and bigger in a city where every mistake made is glorified by 10000

 

[mikebel111*]

OHL defense is a lot different than NHL defense. Not to mention the fact Kadri couldn't cover the puck properly in the past, no matter his skill or points. I don't have to bring out videos to know how kadri's puck coverage back then was and how it is now, and it's for sure much much better. Heck when I saw him in the beginning of the season in the Marlies, he's improved quite a bit from then. Yes hunter made a bold claim and it seems to be true although I am uncertain. I obviously hope that he is correct and Kadri can be tagged in that level of players because that's what leaf nations need oh so badly.

I agree with u on alot of things, but this one I don't at all.

carlyle said after bolts game, kadri was never bad defensively, even in junior, and ahl, plus nhl
he just needed some coaching on when to use high risk, high reward plays
he needed help on decision making, and that is alot better now
I'm not sure why you say he was below average defensively.
ofcourse this is not me knocking eakins
that in ahl, he needed coaching as well, and now is much improved