Player Discussion Morgan Rielly

[arso40]

Riellys ranking among the 60ish dmen over the last 3 playoffs with 20+ games:

Goals per game: 2nd
Points per game: 5th
5v5 Goal differential: 3rd

..and that's with the PP being trash.


Take away Rielly, Marner and Matthews and look at what happens to this team 5v5 over the last 3 playoffs:

Rielly 5v5:
Goals for/60: 3.07
Goals against/60: 1.55

Marner 5v5:
Goals for/60: 3.08
Goals against/60: 1.72

Matthews 5v5:
Goals for/60: 2.81
Goals against/60: 2.06

The entire rest of the team without them:
Goals for/60: 1.57
Goals against/60: 3.14

Holy crap the team has sucked outside of these guys 5v5.

We all know the PP has been trash but I dont think thats just on Rielly.

Outside of the PP, Rielly has been one of the best Dmen in the playoffs. His 5v5 goal differential relative his team is insane. By far the best of any player in the playoffs the last 3 years. One of the true "steps it up in the playoffs" dmen in the league.

Do the rest of them receive the oppositions first line cause Riellys had the luxury of a d pair on his team that faces number 1 lines on the other team

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Do the rest of them receive the oppositions first line cause Riellys had the luxury of a d pair on his team that faces number 1 lines on the other team

you can't play 22-26 minutes a night, with ~20 minutes of even-strength a night without playing top end competition

Rielly comes out with Matthews and Marner, and apart from Tampa 2023 that line came out against the best of the best (Kucherov, Tkachuk, Pastrnak).

Rielly has been elite in the playoffs, there is no argument there

 

[Deez Nuts]

Well first off, being around the 31st-51st best defrnsemen in the league puts you solidly in the average #2D to high end #2. Not an "ok #3".

There's a lot of names I disagree with being better than Rielly, but current Karlsson above Heiskenen and Burns in the top 20 seems outright ridiculous.

In my mind he's firmly in the 16-25 category. A number of defensemen are put too high based on their past achievements in this list (especially Burns) and have not shown to be quality #1Dmen the past few years. A few specific comparisons within the 15-25 range I'd like to point out below:

Hamilton has one season above 50pts, is bad defensively, and has never produced well in the playoffs. Rielly has been better offensively over his career and substantially better in the playoffs.

Hanifin is praised for his transition game despite mediocre defense and offense. Rielly is better in transitioning, better offensively, and not as big of a downgrade defensively as some would make you believe.

Ekblad has been the Panthers #3D the last few years and quite a few of their fans would be happy to see him gone. He has not been good for several years.

How is this guy top 16-25 are you nuts?
The guy is utterly useless on PP and PK and he is easily one of the worst D in the entire league defensively.
You talk about past achievements yet Mo was absolutely trash in the regular season and playoffs last year. Garbage so far this year.
The guy is nowhere near top 25. His points totals in previous years are merely a function of being gifted minutes with top offensive forwards. His points are secondary assists and usually unintentional. He stinks period.

 

[arso40]

How is this guy top 16-25 are you nuts?
The guy is utterly useless on PP and PK and he is easily one of the worst D in the entire league defensively.
You talk about past achievements yet Mo was absolutely trash in the regular season and playoffs last year. Garbage so far this year.
The guy is nowhere near top 25. His points totals in previous years are merely a function of being gifted minutes with top offensive forwards. His points are secondary assists and usually unintentional. He stinks period.

Did you not see pk on his assessment on Rielly he’s no where near a number 1 he’s been miscasted the whole time

 

[Aashir Mallik]

How is this guy top 16-25 are you nuts?
The guy is utterly useless on PP and PK and he is easily one of the worst D in the entire league defensively.
You talk about past achievements yet Mo was absolutely trash in the regular season and playoffs last year. Garbage so far this year.
The guy is nowhere near top 25. His points totals in previous years are merely a function of being gifted minutes with top offensive forwards. His points are secondary assists and usually unintentional. He stinks period.

yea he is so useless on the pp that he only gets 20 points yearly where every year he is yo-yo’d down for the likes of Barrie,Sandin,Liljegren,muzzin,Brodie and he does better than them all. He’s not great, but the pp not working is more on the 3 amigos and their inability to play powerplay hockey. Matthews can’t make a pass, Marner can’t shot and score on an empty net, And nylander frankly isn’t talented/work hard enough to do either at an elite level. He’s a decent distributor and really good at keeping the line. Our pp should be going through Marner-nylander-Matthews, not Rielly.

No arguments for the pk, he isn’t good enough defensively to play on it.

He was so bad last year he paced for 66 points and had a higher A1/60 than A2/60 (can’t find the totals). Infact that has been true for 5 years (6 including this) where that has happened. So much for secondary nothing assist, even thhough a lot of them are clean zone exits from him

If he stinks, Hamilton is awful, Jones is unplayable, Werenski is bad and many other #1’s are actually #3-4’s in disguise

 

[Community]

How is this guy top 16-25 are you nuts?
The guy is utterly useless on PP and PK and he is easily one of the worst D in the entire league defensively.
You talk about past achievements yet Mo was absolutely trash in the regular season and playoffs last year. Garbage so far this year.
The guy is nowhere near top 25. His points totals in previous years are merely a function of being gifted minutes with top offensive forwards. His points are secondary assists and usually unintentional. He stinks period.

Yawn. Can you please do at least a tiny bit of fact checking and provide stats to back up some of your claims?

You keep ignoring that he was 9th in ppg amongst defensemen last regular season. How, in any way, does that translate to a "horrible season"?

Also, how do you explain his playoff production where he's produced well despite our offensive forwards not producing to expectations?

Some stats to back-up my claims regarding his regular season last year:
- 9th in defensemen ppg despite not being in the top 25 for pp toi/game.
- Leafs were 25th in the league powerplay opportunities (aka near the bottom of the league in powerplay opportunities).
- 5th in primary assists amongst dmen

So how exactly is the dmen with the 5th most primary assists getting less powerplays and pp toi per game getting all his points as secondary assists on the PP?

 

[Deez Nuts]

yea he is so useless on the pp that he only gets 20 points yearly where every year he is yo-yo’d down for the likes of Barrie,Sandin,Liljegren,muzzin,Brodie and he does better than them all. He’s not great, but the pp not working is more on the 3 amigos and their inability to play powerplay hockey. Matthews can’t make a pass, Marner can’t shot and score on an empty net, And nylander frankly isn’t talented/work hard enough to do either at an elite level. He’s a decent distributor and really good at keeping the line. Our pp should be going through Marner-nylander-Matthews, not Rielly.

No arguments for the pk, he isn’t good enough defensively to play on it.

He was so bad last year he paced for 66 points and had a higher A1/60 than A2/60 (can’t find the totals). Infact that has been true for 5 years (6 including this) where that has happened. So much for secondary nothing assist, even thhough a lot of them are clean zone exits from him

If he stinks, Hamilton is awful, Jones is unplayable, Werenski is bad and many other #1’s are actually #3-4’s in disguise

Rielly has been a fixture on PP1 forever so this make believe yo yo crap you speak of is nonsense.
When any D is gifted minutes with all stars on the PP he is going to score a few points. He ain’t setting up plays, making great passes. When he is on the PP it is basically 4 on 4. We all know he has a muffin of a shot and he is unable to execute a one timer.
In 2022-2023 he wasn’t even top 30 in scoring for D.
Rielly is a low IQ player and one of the worst defensively in the league. There is no debate here. He has zero understanding how to defend, refuses to ever use his body despite his hefty frame and is a liability. Nobody would ever put the guy on the ice in the final minute protecting a lead.
The guy is a major bonehead. All these years I have heard his partner is the real problem yet he is dragging Tanev down with him.
The team’s winning % speaks for itself when he is out of the lineup.
For me he is a net negative and a perennial loser.

 

[Maple Leaf]

I think Rielly is a good defenseman but eliminated year after year why not make a CHANGE

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Rielly has been a fixture on PP1 forever so this make believe yo yo crap you speak of is nonsense.
When any D is gifted minutes with all stars on the PP he is going to score a few points. He ain’t setting up plays, making great passes. When he is on the PP it is basically 4 on 4. We all know he has a muffin of a shot and he is unable to execute a one timer.
In 2022-2023 he wasn’t even top 30 in scoring for D.
Rielly is a low IQ player and one of the worst defensively in the league. There is no debate here. He has zero understanding how to defend, refuses to ever use his body despite his hefty frame and is a liability. Nobody would ever put the guy on the ice in the final minute protecting a lead.
The guy is a major bonehead. All these years I have heard his partner is the real problem yet he is dragging Tanev down with him.
The team’s winning % speaks for itself when he is out of the lineup.
For me he is a net negative and a perennial loser.

Oh man you’ve convinced me you don’t watch hockey

The teams winning percentage is elite without Matthews, f***ing hell we are undefeated in the post season without him, maybe he’s the problem and we should deal him for a 5th round puck.

You had to go back another year to make a point because last year didn’t fit your narrative. And yet he was 24th in ppg in a down year. You use points but the man played 65 games.

If you wanna use totals, in the last 3 years, Rielly is 13th in PPP, so idk if he’s as bad as you claim.

Again our PP is most effective when the core 3 are going, it doesn’t look any better with OEL there and it won’t until the core 3 get their heads out of their asses.

I wouldn’t put burns, Hughes, dahlin, Bouchard, and many more out with a minute left, that doesn’t mean they aren’t/weren’t good.


he is consistently outplaying his opposition, and again steps up in the playoffs.

For me he is a net positive and the best of the bunch of losers.

 

[hamzarocks]

Deez nutz has been a rielly hater since the kessel era

RIelly isnt ever living up to what people envisioned back in 2015, 2016 but hes been the best D-man we have had since 06.

I dont care if he is dealt or kept at this point.

A shrewd/cunning GM would leverage a Rielly package for a prospect offensive D and then acquire Marcus Pettersson to play top pairing LHD in the summer

I doubt we will trade Rielly even if it makes sense for both sides.

Hopefully ue can play like he has the past few games and keeps his strong playoffs intact. A ppg playoff run would get people excited again

 

[Deez Nuts]

Deez nutz has been a rielly hater since the kessel era

RIelly isnt ever living up to what people envisioned back in 2015, 2016 but hes been the best D-man we have had since 06.

I dont care if he is dealt or kept at this point.

A shrewd/cunning GM would leverage a Rielly package for a prospect offensive D and then acquire Marcus Pettersson to play top pairing LHD in the summer

I doubt we will trade Rielly even if it makes sense for both sides.

Hopefully ue can play like he has the past few games and keeps his strong playoffs intact. A ppg playoff run would get people excited again

This is true, when drafted I had high hopes but he has been a huge let down and atrocious player in my opinion. No doubt I’ve been a “hater” for a very long time.

Maybe if the organization could draft and develop D and wasn’t forced to play him big minutes I wouldn’t be so harsh.

But I ain’t the only one who thinks he sucks. And he ain’t getting traded, his contract is horrendous for what he brings. Nobody would ever give up anything of value for him and be stuck with the pylon for another 5 years.

 

[TMLAM34]

If the Leafs get eliminated yet again in the first round, everything should be on the table (like they said this past off-season). I wouldn’t mind moving Rielly and signing Ekblad.

Ekman-Larsson - Ekblad
McCabe - Tanev

Pretty good top four.

 

[arso40]

If the Leafs get eliminated yet again in the first round, everything should be on the table (like they said this past off-season). I wouldn’t mind moving Rielly and signing Ekblad.

Ekman-Larsson - Ekblad
McCabe - Tanev

Pretty good top four.

Really good top 4 I’d switch the pairings though

 

[Martin Skoula]

If the Leafs get eliminated yet again in the first round, everything should be on the table (like they said this past off-season). I wouldn’t mind moving Rielly and signing Ekblad.

Ekman-Larsson - Ekblad
McCabe - Tanev

Pretty good top four.

For how long, 1 maybe 2 years?

 

[thewave]

For how long, 1 maybe 2 years?

Exactly.

Toronto Maple Leafs are now commited to sell the jerseys and names on them. Winning a cup is pretty much a lost cause but tre is going to shift things around and hope to get our hopes up for sure.

Dubas killed our shot.

We are now shackled to anchors via overpays and NMCs and Shanahan has the balls of a rat.

 

[diceman934]

Yes I guess Morgan sucks....what a pass that is 4 points in his last few games. Being washed up as some on here state seems premature at best

 

[Community]

If the Leafs get eliminated yet again in the first round, everything should be on the table (like they said this past off-season). I wouldn’t mind moving Rielly and signing Ekblad.

Ekman-Larsson - Ekblad
McCabe - Tanev

Pretty good top four.

Have you watched Ekblad recently? He's not the player he used to be and was Florida's #3 during their playoff run.

He's substantially worse than Morgan Rielly.

 

[diceman934]

Have you watched Ekblad recently? He's not the player he used to be and was Florida's #3 during their playoff run.

He's substantially worse than Morgan Rielly.

Do people watch hockey?
We have a very good D man who will get over 500 points in his career this year. He took a pay cut to stay here and last year had 58 points in 72 games for 7.5m per year. So under appreciated in this forum