Morgan Rielly

[rumman]

Maybe that's what he wants

free popcorn, possibly hot dogs, I see where your going with this............

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

Can you be put on the LTIR for obesity? We should look into that.

 

[nuck]

Bounce back year for a stubborn Rielly who will then be traded because he gets scared due to new lockdowns in Canada in 2026.

That's my prediction

They usually don't tell us when someone is hurt unless they are getting surgery but he plays like he did in 19 and 22 when he was towing an invisible piano. But he had a solid playoff last year so the decline isn't linear. If they can move him they should, but if not, 3rd pairing is where he can do the least damage while he sorts out whatever is going on. Does anyone else remember when this guy had fantastic wheels?

 

[JT AM da real deal]

To me this may be da last chance summer to move him before a BUYOUT is inevitable .. you can't have a 7.5m cap hit on your 3rd pair in a protected role .. he will be out of da league in a year maybe 2 .. i hope they can find a trade partner who has less term .. he is a big part of da failed culture with JT Mitch etc .. talks like a leader but bottom line way to many playoff defensive screw ups which cost team far more than he added with secondary apples

 

[Ports]

To me this may be da last chance summer to move him before a BUYOUT is inevitable .. you can't have a 7.5m cap hit on your 3rd pair in a protected role .. he will be out of da league in a year maybe 2 .. i hope they can find a trade partner who has less term .. he is a big part of da failed culture with JT Mitch etc .. talks like a leader but bottom line way to many playoff defensive screw ups which cost team far more than he added with secondary apples

He says he won’t waive his NMC so buy him out this summer. They can’t make the changes they’re talking about and keep him around. Worst $7.5M defenseman in the league.

 

[Casino Royale]

One of the worst defenseman contracts in the league, no idea why some think he has value even if he mightve waived.
Rielly needs to drop at least fifteen lbs this summer and come to camp in way better shape than he was for playoffs.

Leafs have to again try to find him a perfect partner, but honestly tanev or Carlo should be more than sufficient.

 

[thewave]

He says he won’t waive his NMC so buy him out this summer. They can’t make the changes they’re talking about and keep him around. Worst $7.5M defenseman in the league.

He is fine..just leave him and if he comes in fat again throw on a conditioning stint/press box.

Fat Morgan was terrible. Playoff Morgan was much better

 

[Nineteen67]

One of the worst defenseman contracts in the league, no idea why some think he has value even if he mightve waived.
Rielly needs to drop at least fifteen lbs this summer and come to camp in way better shape than he was for playoffs.

Leafs have to again try to find him a perfect partner, but honestly tanev or Carlo should be more than sufficient.

He’s not fat at 220 lbs. keep that weight on him.

 

[ashs]

He is fine..just leave him and if he comes in fat again throw on a conditioning stint/press box.

Fat Morgan was terrible. Playoff Morgan was much better

Dude cost us game 3

 

[thewave]

Dude cost us game 3

Ya but Mitch almost costs us every game 5 6 7 so when you frame it like that it's not so bad.

 

[MajorLeaf]

Man these fat Reilly comments are making me

With 15 teams having $20 million in cap space this year it’s a rare situation to be able for teams to move contracts. I don’t recall ever this many teams having that much cap space.

Leafs should do everything they can to convince Reilly to waive as the team would have many options where in year’s past they would not have this golden opportunity.

 

[Tak7]

FatMo was not something I was expecting to read today. Great job, everyone - this is going to be a really long summer

 

[Leafshater67]

His decline in footspeed is very Subban-esque. Subban went from like 205 to 225 too and so did Reilly. I think he needs to shed some weight and lean out and he’d get a lot of it back but what do I know?

I sure feel faster at 220 than I did at 240. Sometimes less is more. The bulk he picked up probably isn’t helping.

 

[fahad203]

His decline in footspeed is very Subban-esque. Subban went from like 205 to 225 too and so did Reilly. I think he needs to shed some weight and lean out and he’d get a lot of it back but what do I know?

I sure feel faster at 220 than I did at 240. Sometimes less is more. The bulk he picked up probably isn’t helping.

That goal Pastarnak scored should have been his last with the Leafs

That was just down right embarrasing. Both from mental decision making, then inability to recovery physically

 

[Ports]

Dude cost us game 3

And game 7. Terrible pinch on the Panthers first goal and was totally out of position and slow to get back on their third goal. Minus three for the night. You can’t rely on a defenseman who is so totally unreliable and brain dead in a big playoff game and Rielly constantly comes up short. Time to move on from him.

 

[Ports]

He is fine..just leave him and if he comes in fat again throw on a conditioning stint/press box.

Fat Morgan was terrible. Playoff Morgan was much better

Did you watch game 7 ? Minus 3 and was the cause of the Panthers first goal and way out of position on their third goal going for a pleasure skate. Same thing as last year in game 7 against the Bruins. He looked like a Mack Truck stuck in first gear getting back to check Pasternak on the dump in. Not good enough for a team that wants to challenge for a cup. His occasional offense doesn’t make up for his terrible defensive play. Playoff Mo is ancient history.

 

[ToneDog]

Did you watch game 7 ? Minus 3 and was the cause of the Panthers first goal and way out of position on their third goal going for a pleasure skate. Same thing as last year in game 7 against the Bruins. He looked like a Mack Truck stuck in first gear getting back to check Pasternak on the dump in. Not good enough for a team that wants to challenge for a cup. His occasional offense doesn’t make up for his terrible defensive play. Playoff Mo is ancient history.

Move him to Dallas. Everything is bigger in Texas and he can get even bigger there.

 

[Fogelhund]

To me this may be da last chance summer to move him before a BUYOUT is inevitable .. you can't have a 7.5m cap hit on your 3rd pair in a protected role .. he will be out of da league in a year maybe 2 .. i hope they can find a trade partner who has less term .. he is a big part of da failed culture with JT Mitch etc .. talks like a leader but bottom line way to many playoff defensive screw ups which cost team far more than he added with secondary apples

Strange... because he just had the top even strength minutes of any D on our team in the playoffs. The coaches value him, played him the most.

Strange... he is still sixth in playoff scoring for D.

Strange, still top 30 in scoring for D in the league.

Our coaching staff view him as the most important player, 5v5 on the team. He had the most minutes.

Sure, Leafs fans make scapegoats, and group think into hating D men on a regular basis, it's always been that way.

Playoff realities

#1 in Even strength Ice time
#1 in Leaf D in On Ice goals
#1 in Leaf D in points
#1 in Leaf D in Corsi
#1 Leaf D in Fenwick
#2 Leaf D in Goals %
#1 Leaf D in Expected Goals %
# 1 Leaf D in Relative Expected Goals %
#2 Leaf D in on Ice Shot attempts against.
#3 in on ice expected goals against
#2 in On Ice goal differential

Do we need him to be better... absolutely.... but he's the only real offensive threat, best puck mover...

For those that think he needs to be removed at any cost, you really need to give your head a shake, and detach yourself from group think.

We aren't replacing him with a better offensive and puck mover, for less money... particularly this offseason.

And... the club values him too much, the coach values him too much, so the reality is he isn't moving...

 

[Tak7]

Strange... because he just had the top even strength minutes of any D on our team in the playoffs. The coaches value him, played him the most.

Strange... he is still sixth in playoff scoring for D.

Strange, still top 30 in scoring for D in the league.

Our coaching staff view him as the most important player, 5v5 on the team. He had the most minutes.

Sure, Leafs fans make scapegoats, and group think into hating D men on a regular basis, it's always been that way.

Playoff realities

#1 in Even strength Ice time
#1 in Leaf D in On Ice goals
#1 in Leaf D in points
#1 in Leaf D in Corsi
#1 Leaf D in Fenwick
#2 Leaf D in Goals %
#1 Leaf D in Expected Goals %
# 1 Leaf D in Relative Expected Goals %
#2 Leaf D in on Ice Shot attempts against.
#3 in on ice expected goals against
#2 in On Ice goal differential

Do we need him to be better... absolutely.... but he's the only real offensive threat, best puck mover...

For those that think he needs to be removed at any cost, you really need to give your head a shake, and detach yourself from group think.

We aren't replacing him with a better offensive and puck mover, for less money... particularly this offseason.

And... the club values him too much, the coach values him too much, so the reality is he isn't moving...

Very well said - they aren't replacing him with better, for cheaper than the $7.5M they are currently paying him.

They also have nothing coming through the pipeline that could help take the burden off him.

Which leaves you with two options:

1) Keep an obviously declining asset and hope that with Marner gone, he finds his way back onto PP1, augments some PP points, feels better about his game, and potentially settles into a serviceable middle pair Dman alongside Carlo for a full year

or

2) Try to assertively convince him to waive, move, get some assets back, and potentially use that combined cap space to try and collective recover what you've lost.

I'm always going to pick #2. I appreciate that Rielly has been able to separate himself from the core 4 discussion on account of his contract, position, and his productivity in the playoffs - but he's been longer than those other guys, and if you're serious about "DNA change" and "fixing the culture", he's top of that list.

His tentativeness on the first shift of game 7 against Florida will stay with me for a very, very long time.

 

[Fogelhund]

The argument to move him, is mostly around culture change, which I can fully get behind. Having said that, it just doesn't appear as though there is any appetite to move him at all. I've put forth numerous "play rosters" where he was traded... but that was more a culture change thing, than a ... hey this guys is the worst player in the league thing... which he clearly isn't.

 

[hamzarocks]

He should get 1 more year.

If he is back to his 55-65 pt production with not deathly bad defense and great transitioning then he's worth 7.5M and is a high end top pairing D-man who we should keep

If he doesn't get to that and say has a 30 pt season in 70 games and is a mess defensively, then you tell Mo its time to waive the NMC and we can retain down 2-3M to get some value and send you where you want to go, other we buy you out and you lose money which won't be made back on next contract, putting him at risk of being out of the NHL by 2028ish.

He needs to focus on the gym and his diet. Work with the sports science team and look to come back healthy and motivated to be the best D-man on the team next year.

The team should set a target weight for him to come in at and have him be required to start at that weight or see his TOI get cut

 

[Tak7]

The argument to move him, is mostly around culture change, which I can fully get behind. Having said that, it just doesn't appear as though there is any appetite to move him at all. I've put forth numerous "play rosters" where he was traded... but that was more a culture change thing, than a ... hey this guys is the worst player in the league thing... which he clearly isn't.

Not just culture change, but performance, age, and decline.

 

[Suntouchable13]

These strict NTC and NMCs are dumb. If you have to give a player some form of trade protection, make it a modified one. Make them submit a list of teams every off season. Enough of this shit.

 

[seventieslord]

Did you watch game 7 ? Minus 3 and was the cause of the Panthers first goal and way out of position on their third goal going for a pleasure skate. Same thing as last year in game 7 against the Bruins. He looked like a Mack Truck stuck in first gear getting back to check Pasternak on the dump in. Not good enough for a team that wants to challenge for a cup. His occasional offense doesn’t make up for his terrible defensive play. Playoff Mo is ancient history.

Was playoff Mo ever really a thing? I mean we loved his occasional timely goals and plays, but it's not like he suddenly figured out how to play defense in April. Same player he always was, just managed to be a part of some positive key moments.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Was playoff Mo ever really a thing? I mean we loved his occasional timely goals and plays, but it's not like he suddenly figured out how to play defense in April. Same player he always was, just managed to be a part of some positive key moments.

His floaters somehow become really accurate and he gets good fortune with some bounces. Plus he activates and drives the net more often and gets rewarded. He plays with more passion as well but any player worth their salt usually does. Unfortunately like you said his defensive play doesn't get better. It could be overlooked if he scored more than he got scored on, but that's rare.