Player Discussion Morgan Rielly

[LeafGrief]

I just roll my eyes at most of the Rielly talk. Guy has been our #1D, playing ~23 minutes a night for most of a decade, is a plus player, good advanced stats, and has been trusted by every coach he's had.

He's far from perfect. He's awful at 2on1's, he's not a good fit on our PP, and he has stretches where he's not great. But what he does bring, is that he's outstanding in transition, something we absolutely want considering our team is built around elite forwards, he's completely passable defensively, he's one of the team's most important leaders, and the Leafs have scored more goals for than against when he's on the ice for 20 minutes a night for almost a decade.

That people love to shit all over a defenceman who plays 20+ minutes a night and wins his minutes is just... so, so silly. Yeah, he's got brain farts and defensive warts, but if he didn't he'd be a multi-Norris winner. And for goodness sakes, he's nowhere near the disaster defensively (aside from 2 on 1's, he's absolutely hopeless at those) that people make him out to be. It's like people see 50 points in a defenseman's stats column and unless they're Scott Niedermayer defensively, it must mean they suck. If he didn't have any of his offensive talent, he'd still be a second pairing defenceman on 30 teams in the league based on his skating and defensive work. He's not a puck watcher, he's fine along the boards, and is exactly where he's supposed to be in the offensive and defensive ends at almost all times. Yes, I am arguing that he is nothing more than "fine" defensively, but when you combine that with the fact that he's an elite offensive producer and can be trusted for 20 minutes+ for 82 games and playoffs, you should realize that he's an extremely effective player and integral part of our team.

Every time he struggles for a stretch he takes his turn in the scapegoat barrel, he inevitably shakes whatever is ailing him off and then goes absolutely beastmode for four months to make everyone look silly. He'll have to suck for two years before I write him off.

 

[rumman]

I’m willing to give him 10-15 games to adjust to the coach and partner, but I haven’t liked how little offence he has generated. Too many unforced icings, too many passes off target, too many shots into shins.

He doesn’t play enough defence to warrant 7.5m. We need him to create offence in the zone, and give us at least 55 points

If Morgan isn’t putting up points what’s he good for? Certainly not his defensive superiority……….

That was clear last year.
It's just more clear this year than last.

Tre spent alot of money to work around Rielly.

OEL replaces the need for Rielly on PP1.

Rielly scores once every 10 games. Is that super key to have ?

No it isn’t, but good luck trading him………

 

[Aashir Mallik]

If Morgan isn’t putting up points what’s he good for? Certainly not his defensive superiority……….

Right now it’s not even the points, he can’t even make simple plays. Stretch passes are missing their targets, shots aren’t being taken or into shins even moreso than usual. Pinches aren’t being made with thought and passes in the zone aren’t being connected on.

When Rielly is on the ice right now, you don’t notice him in the ozone. That’s not a good thing

 

[HamiltonNHL]

He regressed quite a bit last year.

I think nothing has changed since last year.

 

[Moonman]

He decided to gain some weight in the off-season. It isn't working in his favor.

 

[rumman]

Right now it’s not even the points, he can’t even make simple plays. Stretch passes are missing their targets, shots aren’t being taken or into shins even moreso than usual. Pinches aren’t being made with thought and passes in the zone aren’t being connected on.

When Rielly is on the ice right now, you don’t notice him in the ozone. That’s not a good thing

maybe fatherhood and lack of sleep are affecting him?

He regressed quite a bit last year.

I think nothing has changed since last year.

agree........

 

[Community]

He regressed quite a bit last year.

I think nothing has changed since last year.

People sure have a short memory.

He was 9th in ppg amongst defensemen last year. So if he regressed, I guess he mustve been a perennial Norris calibre defenseman before last year?

People are letting a lackluster first few games and his only non-elite showing in the playoffs last year to say he's washed. That's literally 12 games people are putting more stock into than his 796 game career.

Is Matthews washed too? His last 10 games have been very much average.

 

[sunstersun]

People sure have a short memory.

He was 9th in ppg amongst defensemen last year. So if he regressed, I guess he mustve been a perennial Norris calibre defenseman before last year?

People are letting a lackluster first few games and his only non-elite showing in the playoffs last year to say he's washed. That's literally 12 games people are putting more stock into than his 796 game career.

Is Matthews washed too? His last 10 games have been very much average.

It's not just the stats or the eye test. We're evaluating him on a 7.5 million contract for what? Another 5 years?

Rielly's skill set might rebound this year, but statistically like JT it's going to be a more brutal decline than expected.

Why? Because he doesn't have an old man game at all. I'm watching OEL play with a fraction of the athleticism 10 x more effectively.

 

[Community]

It's not just the stats or the eye test. We're evaluating him on a 7.5 million contract for what? Another 5 years?

Rielly's skill set might rebound this year, but statistically like JT it's going to be a more brutal decline than expected.

Why? Because he doesn't have an old man game at all. I'm watching OEL play with a fraction of the athleticism 10 x more effectively.

This isn't the 90's. Sports science has come a long way and that's a big reason why there are a LOT of examples (more each year) of good players playing great into their late 30s. That includes plenty of speedsters maintaing their footspeed throughout the majority of their careers.

Edit: He's also currently the 27th highest caphit and most people have had him pegged at around the 20-30 range for defensemen rankings. Given the cap increases he'll probably he closer to the 40-50th highest caphit when he's on the last year of his contract.

 

[rumman]

It's not just the stats or the eye test. We're evaluating him on a 7.5 million contract for what? Another 5 years?

Rielly's skill set might rebound this year, but statistically like JT it's going to be a more brutal decline than expected.

Why? Because he doesn't have an old man game at all. I'm watching OEL play with a fraction of the athleticism 10 x more effectively.

Good points……..

 

[HamiltonNHL]

He was 9th in ppg amongst defensemen last year.

That isn't a useful metric to evaluate a D.
OEL replaces him on the PP quite nicely.

OEL > Rielly on PP1.

 

[Community]

That isn't a useful metric to evaluate a D.
OEL replaces him on the PP quite nicely.

OEL > Rielly on PP1.

Bruh, seriously? He's an offensive defenseman. We've always known this.

That's like saying points don't matter when evaluating Quinn Hughes and defense didn't matter when we evaluated Patrice Bergeron.

If you want to go into advanced stats, we can look at his transition game which has always been near the top of the league. Furthermore, only 20 of his 58pts last year were on the powerplay points which is in line with (or slightly below) other players so its not like he was only putting up points because of the powerplay.

Edit: It's also only been 5 games with no noticeable improvement to the PP with OEL on it instead of Rielly. OEL might be the better pp dman, but it's way too early to know.

 

[Deez Nuts]

Been saying it for a decade, Rielly’s a flat out loser with zero IQ and is defensively one of the worst in the league.
I just can’t understand how people still defend this pylon. He sucks offensively and defensively, is useless on special teams and brings next to nothing to the table. His point totals are merely a function of playing big minutes with offensively gifted players. He ain’t setting up plays or making great passes.
I think Berube knows he sucks. Finally a coach that has the balls to take him off PP1. OEL is a million times better than him for a fraction of the price.
His contract is the worst on the team by far. Nobody would ever trade for this clown unless we are getting a bad contract back.
It kills me knowing we are stuck with this imbecile for another 5 years.
Year after year so many used Rielly’s partner as the real problem. Even paired with Tanev he looks like garbage.
Just look at the team’s record when Rielly does not play, basically unbeatable. This is not a small sample size either.