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The Morgan Rielly Conundrum

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mcleafs

Registered User
Jan 2, 2020
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First things first: this isn't going to be nor is it intended to be a Rielly bash fest!

But we all need to be honest his play so far this year certainly raises questions for this team after this season. His defensive play is slowly stabilizing, but every game so far it's pretty clear who is the least comfortable and confident in our own end. Last night, it unfortunately cost us a goal that made that game closer than it needed to be.

What do we do with him this offseason? (He's clearly staying with the team this season no matter what)

Let me be clear, in many ways we are a WORSE team without Morgan Rielly. But in the cap area, you have to pick and choose your battles and leverage your youth where you can.

Rielly's $5m is very valuable cap space. His new salary will likely be upwards of $7m+ at least.

Is what he brings to the table worth sticking with? Are our replacements for him decent enough that leveraging that cap space elsewhere (Hyman, Simmonds, etc.) is overall more beneficial to the team?

In your opinion, is Rielly part of the equation for change for making this team better, or a no questions asked part of our core that should be resigned?
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At 7M upwards for me it is a thanks but no thanks ... find out where he is this upcoming summer and if he does not want to be reasonable we move him for more defense at lower AAV or a better goaler ... he is what he is right now ... he will only get worse as his main asset his speed slows down
 
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mcleafs said:
First things first: this isn't going to be nor is it intended to be a Rielly bash fest!

But we all need to be honest his play so far this year certainly raises questions for this team after this season. His defensive play is slowly stabilizing, but every game so far it's pretty clear who is the least comfortable and confident in our own end. Last night, it unfortunately cost us a goal that made that game closer than it needed to be.

What do we do with him this offseason? (He's clearly staying with the team this season no matter what)

Let me be clear, in many ways we are a WORSE team without Morgan Rielly. But in the cap area, you have to pick and choose your battles and leverage your youth where you can.

Rielly's $5m is very valuable cap space. His new salary will likely be upwards of $7m+ at least.

Is what he brings to the table worth sticking with? Are our replacements for him decent enough that leveraging that cap space elsewhere (Hyman, Simmonds, etc.) is overall more beneficial to the team?

In your opinion, is Rielly part of the equation for change for making this team better, or a no questions asked part of our core that should be resigned?
Click to expand...

Personally I'd trade him if the cost is 7m+, but not because I don't think he's good enough to earn that contract but because I believe in Dermott and Sandin to be able to step into bigger roles (full time in Sandin's case) and think that money could be better used elsewhere without losing much from the d-core.
 
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Tough call b/c he does bring a lot to the team. But defensively, he's just not there, and shouldn't be your #1 guy. And something has to give.....
 
He’s a defenseman that doesn’t play a poised defensive game. “All about the cap”.

**I edited out some smack talk. He’s not perfect. That 72 point season really has me judging him harshly. I’m done, I’ll take what he brings and suck it up.
 
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mcleafs said:
First things first: this isn't going to be nor is it intended to be a Rielly bash fest!

But we all need to be honest his play so far this year certainly raises questions for this team after this season. His defensive play is slowly stabilizing, but every game so far it's pretty clear who is the least comfortable and confident in our own end. Last night, it unfortunately cost us a goal that made that game closer than it needed to be.

What do we do with him this offseason? (He's clearly staying with the team this season no matter what)

Let me be clear, in many ways we are a WORSE team without Morgan Rielly. But in the cap area, you have to pick and choose your battles and leverage your youth where you can.

Rielly's $5m is very valuable cap space. His new salary will likely be upwards of $7m+ at least.

Is what he brings to the table worth sticking with? Are our replacements for him decent enough that leveraging that cap space elsewhere (Hyman, Simmonds, etc.) is overall more beneficial to the team?

In your opinion, is Rielly part of the equation for change for making this team better, or a no questions asked part of our core that should be resigned?
Click to expand...

Damned if you keep, damned if you let him go.

He obviously provides a ton of value for what he brings with his transition game, skating and outlet passes but as you essentially say, his defensive miscues are more norm then outlier this year. It's weird because he has superstar prowess, but the fundamentals of defending a 2 on 1 or maintaining possession from a defensive zone board battle are not.

To be clear guys like Hughes and Karlsson are also the same, it's more of a conversation of do we want to have an offensive d-man who is not a stud defensively?

Muzzin, Brodie, Holl, Dermott, Lethonen are all perfect fits relative to cap hit. In fact, they pretty much all provide more value then their contract.

Rielly doesn't outperform his contract, but he's not a liability either and like you say we are weaker without him.

Because it's hard to maximize an improvement in value on the other defenders relative to cap hit - Rielly sticks out.

I guess the question comes down to who do we replace him with?

If we replace him with a top 10 d in the game at 6 million per i'm all for it...but does that player even exist? If we replace him with a top 20 d man in the game I'd also probably say yes depending on who it is. If you say top 30, I'd ask who? Because there's not a whole lot of guys who are top #1 D's that are actually available and also cap friendly.
 
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mclaren55 said:
He has 10 points in his last 7, no? How are you guys complaining right now. This is crazy.
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The intention of this thread is definitely not to complain, nor are many I believe. Rielly is very good and brings A LOT, but as is the case with the cap era, something has to give.

The question is whether the consensus is that something Morgan Rielly or someone else?
 
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I can't tell you with complete certainty that he will be re-signed. I will say that he's currently the team's #1 option for minutes and production from the blueline. Muzzin has been close offensively this season but isn't typically at this level for his career. Holl is typically more of a defensive d-man. That top four on D is not something I'd be eager to mess with until absolutely necessary (by which I mean someone is out of contract and a decision has to be made). This team wants to contend now. Rielly plays a good part in that.
 
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mclaren55 said:
He has 10 points in his last 7, no? How are you guys complaining right now. This is crazy.
Click to expand...

Go look at how he got those points. He had a 3 point night where literally all he did to get those points was some 5 foot passes in his own zone with no pressure and then Marner did all the actual work.

He had a nice goal, but you could put just about any top-4 D on the ice with the Matthews line and they'll hit stretches of 10 in 7.
 
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ULF_55 said:
8 years * 5mm

Signing bonus
Front loading
Click to expand...

Sounds perfect for the Leafs and with his defensive struggles and the new covid cap realities he might sign on to that to stay with a winning team.

He could probably get more somewhere else but what the point of 70 million in your career instead of 60 if you are on a perennial loser.

Maybe Mo's all about the dollars but I don't think so.
 
VanW27 said:
Personally I'd trade him if the cost is 7m+, but not because I don't think he's good enough to earn that contract but because I believe in Dermott and Sandin to be able to step into bigger roles (full time in Sandin's case) and think that money could be better used elsewhere without losing much from the d-core.
Click to expand...
Yep bang on there ... great read ... but always be careful because Sandin likely 5 years away from consistent top 4 role ... Dermy 1+ years away still .. da timing may be perfect on Rielly ... but I'd still rather have him at right AAV ... you can't have enough D men ... Dmen get hurt and especially when things get tighter down stretch and in playoffs ... it is likely we could lose Rielly and Muzzy a week before playoffs with injury and we can't be so weak on depth we are OUT in 1st round like last year with CLB ... you can lose Mitch for playoffs and team likely does not even miss a beat ... but lose a couple D right now and I am telling you we could lose to Flames in round 1
 
Yep bang on there ... great read ... but always be careful because Sandin likely 5 years away from consistent top 4 role ... Dermy 1+ years away still .. da timing may be perfect on Rielly ... but I'd still rather have him at right AAV ... you can't have enough D men ... Dmen get hurt and especially when things get tighter down stretch and in playoffs ... it is likely we could lose Rielly and Muzzy a week before playoffs with injury and we can't be so weak on depth we are OUT in 1st round like last year with CLB ... you can lose Mitch for playoffs and team likely does not even miss a beat ... but lose a couple D right now and I am telling you we could lose to Flames in round 1​


^^^You had me until the lose Mitch part^^^
Mitch piling on the minutes, regular strength, PP, PK.
Easily Top 15 in the NHL for MVP in my opinion.
 
I have this feeling about him that he will take a little less to stay with the team. He's always struck me as someone who has potential to be a lifer
 
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