Prospect Info: Rielly has a chance of playing in the NHL this year.

[satyr9]

I'm usually all for going slower with prospect development, but I think Rielly's gonna make it this year and when he does I'll trust he deserved it.

He's got camp to prove he gets 9 games and 9 games to prove it's dumb to send him back to junior. The only concern I'd have if he does well in those cases is how quickly he'll get physically broken down at the NHL level, 'cause he will.

I don't mean injured - that's largely impossible to predict - just that every prospect (well 99% anyway) will hit a wall where they're just holding on for dear life rather than continuing to improve, because of how harsh the physical strain is from playing 82 against grown men. If that's going to come 20-30 games in, he's probably better off anywhere else just getting in minutes and building strength. If that's 50-60 games in, then sign me up, but I have no idea how a fan or a coaching staff can reasonably evaluate a kid's breaking point. To me, camp plus 9 will easily determine his skill and where he's ready to play, but the physical side for a kid his age and the longevity required would be my biggest question mark for moving him up this year.

 

[Razz]

I'm usually all for going slower with prospect development, but I think Rielly's gonna make it this year and when he does I'll trust he deserved it.

He's got camp to prove he gets 9 games and 9 games to prove it's dumb to send him back to junior. The only concern I'd have if he does well in those cases is how quickly he'll get physically broken down at the NHL level, 'cause he will.

I don't mean injured - that's largely impossible to predict - just that every prospect (well 99% anyway) will hit a wall where they're just holding on for dear life rather than continuing to improve, because of how harsh the physical strain is from playing 82 against grown men. If that's going to come 20-30 games in, he's probably better off anywhere else just getting in minutes and building strength. If that's 50-60 games in, then sign me up, but I have no idea how a fan or a coaching staff can reasonably evaluate a kid's breaking point. To me, camp plus 9 will easily determine his skill and where he's ready to play, but the physical side for a kid his age and the longevity required would be my biggest question mark for moving him up this year.

I'm not as worried about the "wall effect" with Rielly. He played like 100 games last year and clearly knows how to take care of his body like a pro.

I'd be more worried if he went the NCAA route and never took on such a schedule before.

Gardiner is a good example of a guy who hit a wall as a rookie cause he never had that kind of workload before.

 

[Patty Lee]

No one should have a rite to deny a 19 year old adult work in the AHL, if he so choses.

This is age discrimination.

lol. I hope you're joking

and I see you're not. WOW

 

[Frankie]

Gormley was more than ready..... I'm not comparing Rielly to Gormley but only gave an examples as you asked.

gormley was not ready at all. he never even got a sniff. not a call-up or a single game during the season. that has nothing to do with contracts.

Rielly did nothing to play himself off the top pairing as he was simply a victim of a coach favoring his own player as that was easy to see. Please tell me how he under performed......

rielly did nothing to play himself off the top pairing? how would you possibly know that? isn't it possible at all that he simply wasn't as good as he should have been? can you acknowledge the possibility that he perhaps wasn't the perfect hockey player during the wjc?

wouldn't he have to play his way onto the top pairing?

to claim the coach would choose to give extra ice time to a player he "favours" at the expense of a far superior player is foolishness. the coach didn't want to win? that's essentially what you're saying. makes no sense at all. worst excuse I've ever heard.

spott could have given murphy 30+ minutes a game, and still given rielly 30+ minutes a game too. so that excuse doesn't fly at all.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

Plain and simple. Don't rush him.

 

[Warden of the North]

If hes good enough, he plays. Weve got enough money to have a few million sitting int he press box if they're usurped by Rielly.

 

[The Examiner]

gormley was not ready at all. he never even got a sniff. not a call-up or a single game during the season. that has nothing to do with contracts.


rielly did nothing to play himself off the top pairing? how would you possibly know that? isn't it possible at all that he simply wasn't as good as he should have been? can you acknowledge the possibility that he perhaps wasn't the perfect hockey player during the wjc?

wouldn't he have to play his way onto the top pairing?

to claim the coach would choose to give extra ice time to a player he "favours" at the expense of a far superior player is foolishness. the coach didn't want to win? that's essentially what you're saying. makes no sense at all. worst excuse I've ever heard.

spott could have given murphy 30+ minutes a game, and still given rielly 30+ minutes a game too. so that excuse doesn't fly at all.

I'm not saying that I disagree but Kostka and Holzer say hi.

 

[TMLrule*]

rielly did nothing to play himself off the top pairing? how would you possibly know that? isn't it possible at all that he simply wasn't as good as he should have been? can you acknowledge the possibility that he perhaps wasn't the perfect hockey player during the wjc?

wouldn't he have to play his way onto the top pairing?

to claim the coach would choose to give extra ice time to a player he "favours" at the expense of a far superior player is foolishness. the coach didn't want to win? that's essentially what you're saying. makes no sense at all. worst excuse I've ever heard.

spott could have given murphy 30+ minutes a game, and still given rielly 30+ minutes a game too. so that excuse doesn't fly at all.

Lmao stop talking. Did you watch the WCJ????

 

[InterceptSchenn]

Rielly has nothing to learn in the WHL. What good is trolling 16-17 year olds? He is one of the top elite prospects in hockey, if anything I would be disappointed if he did not make it.

 

[mapleleaf979]

Rielly has nothing to learn in the WHL. What good is trolling 16-17 year olds? He is one of the top elite prospects in hockey, if anything I would be disappointed if he did not make it.

If he earns it at camp, sure why not. Reilly does not look like his billed 6-1 height. He is not physical and thats a big part of the game. That part worries me. The offensive side, the skating is perfect. He would get man handled againsts a Bruins team. U dont want to shatter his confidence and force it either. Leafs need some tough defensive defenseman to pair with Reilly and to combat the way big forwards beat up and bully the Leafs team.

 

[nuck]

I can't see it. His failure to dominate in the AHL doesn't suggest he is likely to force his way onto a squad that has no shortage of puck moving D. With no Gardiner or Lile then maybe, but as it sits not only do they not need his best asset, they lack a suitable defensive partner to babysit and mentor him, except for maybe Dion but that puts a rookie with your top shutdown guy, who already has enough on his plate. So he splits his offensive opportunities with three other guys, assuming Liles is moved, and you burn a year of his ELC on a 25 or 30 pt season.

I disagree he has nothingg to learn in Junior. Look at how many Junior games Pietrangelo played. A year bigger and stronger and probably traded to a top club for a playoff run, along with the WJC. He can't help but have a more impactful first NHL year. I really like him as a prospect but the Leafs aren't set up to accomodate a redundant PMD.

 

[Purity*]

If he earns it at camp, sure why not. Reilly does not look like his billed 6-1 height. He is not physical and thats a big part of the game. That part worries me. The offensive side, the skating is perfect. He would get man handled againsts a Bruins team. U dont want to shatter his confidence and force it either. Leafs need some tough defensive defenseman to pair with Reilly and to combat the way big forwards beat up and bully the Leafs team.

Gardiner was also said to be man-handled against the Bruins, however, he was widely regarded as one of the best players in that series..

Speed and skill can easily counter physicality, ffs just look at who the Bruins lost to in the cup finals.. Zdeno Chara may be a well-honed brick of defense, but even he can be beat...

 

[diceman934]

gormley was not ready at all. he never even got a sniff. not a call-up or a single game during the season. that has nothing to do with contracts.


rielly did nothing to play himself off the top pairing? how would you possibly know that? isn't it possible at all that he simply wasn't as good as he should have been? can you acknowledge the possibility that he perhaps wasn't the perfect hockey player during the wjc?

wouldn't he have to play his way onto the top pairing?

to claim the coach would choose to give extra ice time to a player he "favours" at the expense of a far superior player is foolishness. the coach didn't want to win? that's essentially what you're saying. makes no sense at all. worst excuse I've ever heard.

spott could have given murphy 30+ minutes a game, and still given rielly 30+ minutes a game too. so that excuse doesn't fly at all.

Experts agreed that Gormley was ready...but you don't....as for Spott.....he most definitely favored his own player. Rielly did nothing to cause himself to not play top pairing. I do not know what you watched but Rielly played very well, as he played both right and, left side....he played with many different D partners. He just was not used as he should have been..that is not an excuse but reality....

I guess we will not see eye to eye.....but I have seen Rielly likely more than anyone on here and I feel he is more then ready....

 

[dimi78]

Any other organization Reilly would be in the NHL this coming year but the Leafs aren't any other organization due to the fact this market eats there own leaving the organization at a disadvantage to develop youth AT THE NHL LEVEL.

As you could tell the expectations on Reilly is high + he's too good for jr hockey it will do nothing for him going back. The best thing for Reilly is NHL experience not just ice time but travelling with the team, understanding being a pro, practicing with NHL players etc. being the teams 6th 7th D men for a year and let him soak the experience up will do more for him than what he would get out of playing jr hockey again. If he earns more ice time and moves up the depth so beat it but the issue is here in Leaf Nation it's he's a star or bust right out of the gate thus why Kadri spent all that time in the AHL when he was ready for the NHL well before he got his shot this past season. The AHL isn't an option for Reilly so the organization really needs to trend carefully cause Jr hockey has the propensity to develop bad habbits just like it did with Kadri when your too good and get away with it thus slowing his development rather than growing it

 

[seanlinden]

If I'm Dave Nonis, I think you have to at least facilitate Rielly's ability to make the team this year.

Right now, we're not set up to do that. We're short a stay-at-home defenceman, and have Gardiner, Franson, and Liles all ahead of Rielly, while playing a similar role. What the Leafs need to do is find a way to convert Liles into a defenceman that can play in our top 4 and compliment a Franson/Gardiner... basically a better O'Byrne. Then, let Rielly have his 10 games, and make a detemination between him and a guy like Blacker or Holzer for the #7 spot.

 

[Bodybr3ak]

If he earns it at camp, sure why not. Reilly does not look like his billed 6-1 height. He is not physical and thats a big part of the game. That part worries me. The offensive side, the skating is perfect. He would get man handled againsts a Bruins team. U dont want to shatter his confidence and force it either. Leafs need some tough defensive defenseman to pair with Reilly and to combat the way big forwards beat up and bully the Leafs team.

Speed/Mobility>>>>Size

Reilly's Speed/Mobility is insane. Instantly becomes our best skater.

 

[inthe6ix]

Speed/Mobility>>>>Size

Reilly's Speed/Mobility is insane. Instantly becomes our best skater.

Speed is useless as a d-man when you gotta go into the corner and dig the puck out of your own zone - Lucic would eat him for breakfast.

Give him his 10 games and send him back.

 

[frankthetank91]

I hope he makes it. If he can have a Gardiner-like breakout season that Jake had in 2011-12 it would give us a huge boost.

I don't want to rush him i'm just saying I pray he's ready. It seems like a lot of other teams have prospects that are ready to jump in way earlier then ours recently. It would be nice to have an early bloomer in the system.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Personally, I'd hate to be given a ten game trial, only to be sent down. I'd read that as, "you've failed."

 

[zeke]

Speed is useless as a d-man when you gotta go into the corner and dig the puck out of your own zone - Lucic would eat him for breakfast.

...if lucic was ever able to beat him to the puck, maybe.

 

[Cor]

Tell Moose Jaw to trade him to a contender for assets, or that we will gladly keep him in the NHL and they will lose him for nothing.

 

[The Thin White Duke]

Speed is useless as a d-man when you gotta go into the corner and dig the puck out of your own zone - Lucic would eat him for breakfast.

Give him his 10 games and send him back.

He's bigger than Gardiner who seemed just fine playing against Lucic in the playoffs.

 

[Griffski]

Rielly is already 205 and pretty damn solid.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

Back to junior and lots of ice time for him if he is not ready. Don't ruin a good prospect.

If you aren't sure whether he is ready or not, keep him until his contract is about to kick in and have him play some regular season games. If by then they aren't sure enough, send him to Moose Jaw and let him dominate and work on other parts of his game, and let him go to the world juniors. Another year won't hurt him. Unless he's absolutely lights out in his regular season games, don't gamble with the chance of rushing him and please don't keep him to have him in the press box every couple games.

 

[Duffman955]

I feel that Rielly going back to junior will be a detriment.

He is so much better than the competition, that he will toy with opponents and pick up bad habits.

Gardiner was doing this in the AHL this year.