The Morgan Rielly Disrespect Is Getting Out Of Hand

[93gilmour93]

Can’t wait to add Morgan back into the lineup. It will only make the Leafs a better team

 

[The Podium]

Coincidence /= causation

 

[Kelly]

I haven't seen much Mo hate? Though I don't frequent twitter.

Guy is a warrior, he's gonna be a huge addition whenever he returns.

 

[IPS]

As far as Rielly's offense goes, it goes further than just his points. When you have the forwards we do, getting them into the offensive zone is very important. Rielly is one of the very best transition D in the league and our star players will produce much more with him in the lineup healthy. There is tons of the little things that Rielly does that the camera doesn't catch that leads to our forwards getting goals and scoring chances.

His defensive game has been criticized for a long time, and rightfully so. He is not a shutdown guy who you can plug in against the opposition's best players. We tried using him and Brodie has a shutdown pairing early this year and it was a disaster. Keefe then switched over to using Brodie-Holl for the shutdown pairing and things got better pretty well instantly.

 

[TheGreatOne11]

Fans are fickle, it's embarrassing. God forbid we have good players who actually want to stay here, embrace the pressure and play with their heart and soul.

Exactly.

And yet if you polled every damn fan here at the beginning of the season on what they would love more of, it would have been heart and soul.

The irony.

 

[GoonieFace]

He’s still better than Connor Timmons.

 

[Maple Leaf]

we can trade and open up the skies

 

[Tlo1]

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[Namikaze Minato]

between this thread and the one on the main boards where a leafs fan is saying Luke Schenn would be in our top 4 im starting to think HF boards has a serious misunderstanding of defenceman.

And you should have used more face palms

 

[Racer88]

It certainly will be interesting to see if the team keeps up this great play when Reilly comes back or will they slide back into old habits

 

[Tlo1]

Removing one guy doesn't solve a problem.

You underestimate how much of an impact Reilly has on the D core

 

[cgc83]

Theres a lot of silly people on this site . Probably all in their 20s or something .
Morgan Rielly is arguably our top defensemen , why would you want to lose that .

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Theres a lot of silly people on this site . Probably all in their 20s or something .
Morgan Rielly is arguably our top defensemen , why would you want to lose that .

They didn't get enough attention growing up. So they take it out on the hockey forums.

 

[Funk21]

Call me nuts but I 100% genuinely believe they will if Dubas is still our GM. They love him and playing for him which is a big one and a reason why Steve Y got Tampa players to all buy in.

Not saying steal contracts but they will take fair value this time for max term. Wouldn't be surprised to see Matthews take his current caphit x 8 and same with Marner honestly if not the Matthews deal copied and pasted.

I think they are very aware their contracts might have prevents them from being cup winners right now and they are already rich AF. I think if they really believe in the team and the org and think they can win they'll take a bit less

I certainly hope you are right. Even some sort of a concession would be appreciated and needed. They should have a team meeting with AM, Marner, Nylander, Sandin, Liljegren and Samsonov who can all sign extensions this summer (Marner following year) and work out forward going deals to ensure this group stays together.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Today was a prime example of Rielly helping

First of all, he’s put the puck past Shesterkin multiple times

Secondly, his offensive tools were missed on 5v5 and PP especially

I think Timmins is a good bottom pairing defencemen, but Rielly is such an upgrade on him it’s not even close.

Get well soon Mo

 

[Teeder Keon]

Obviously a trade is off the table at this point and his contract is fair value or better on paper, the time to think about life without him was before the contract was signed. The main concern for me is that if his skating takes a hit as he ages it'll impact him the most out of any of our D and his contract will prevent us from being able to afford a viable replacement. I don't think we would have been that much worse off on-ice if he walked and was replaced with a Brodie level placeholder on a 5x4, but no sense worrying about that now.

Hoping he fits the new system like a glove when he's healthy, he brings a lot of value in the room and steps up his game in the playoffs. If the new D set up can keep him to ~20 sheltered minutes where he can dominate offensively I doubt anyone will be complaining about him. Hopefully more tailored usage does him some good and we get to see a new level out of him.

All about coaches making sure that they put players in the right spots to bring out the best in each individual player.
Mo is a Leaf Lifer ….. he will go down as the second best Dman in our history next to the King
His skating ability is what will keep him playing at a higher level in later years …
Not all upper tier to great DMen have been perfect Defensively
Leetch , Coffey , Housley , etc , when your a great skater as a Dman you will have the puck more and on occasion you will make glaring bad defensive plays , that’s what happens
He’s a terrific all round great Defencman , we are lucky to have him

 

[Stephen]

Sandin's janky game against the Rangers is a good example of why Rielly shouldn't be dismissed forever and ever. Yes, sometimes things work better in his absence but we'll need all hands on deck.

 

[Blanche Blanche]

We are all gonna find out soon enough. What great problems to have in Leaf land right now!

 

[Niagara Bill]

All about coaches making sure that they put players in the right spots to bring out the best in each individual player.
Mo is a Leaf Lifer ….. he will go down as the second best Dman in our history next to the King
His skating ability is what will keep him playing at a higher level in later years …
Not all upper tier to great DMen have been perfect Defensively
Leetch , Coffey , Housley , etc , when your a great skater as a Dman you will have the puck more and on occasion you will make glaring bad defensive plays , that’s what happens
He’s a terrific all round great Defencman , we are lucky to have him

Mo??

 

[geo25]

Rielly is defensively challenged. You don’t really want this guy on the ice in the final minutes with a one goal lead. His offence is mediocre, most of his points are secondary assists. He is not good on the PP and his shot is brutal. This is not the first time the Leafs have excelled while he has been injured. I would definitely offer this guy in a package for a top 6 winger and a 3/4 physical defender. Sandin can easily replace him on the PP. Yes he is loyal and a team player but the team has always had trouble scoring in the playoffs. We can’t expect any goals from our 3rd and 4th line in the playoffs. Bunting and whomever is on the second line are not top 6 forwards, especially in the playoffs. Need to find a way to add an offensively gifted winger to play on the top or second line.

Any true #1 D does not need to be sheltered....and he absolutely requires it...the team is firing on all cylinders and has not played this well defensively in recent memory....with Reilly out. With the salary cap the way it is we should consider all/ every option...that includes trading Reilly & anyone else....depending on the return....jmho....

 

[GQS]

It's true that Rielly is poor defensively but that doesn't mean that he is expendable or that the Leafs are better without him. There is something to be said about loyalty and team chemistry both on the ice and in the locker room. Rielly is well liked by the team and is willing to go the extra mile to help this team win. And honestly the logic that the Leafs have played well without Rielly so therefore they should trade him is nonsensical. If we follow that train of thought then the Bruins should've traded Marchand and/or McAvoy earlier this year since they were kicking ass without them.

Make no mistake, when this team goes on a playoff run Rielly will be a huge reason why, and all this talk about trading him will look just as foolish as the Marner trade talk from two weeks into the season.

If we're talking about Rielly and his attributes as a leader and standing up for his teammates etc. then sure he definitely is valuable to the team, but if we're talking about his actual play on the ice then that's somewhat of a different story. No doubt he plays hard and gives it his all and while he's good not great offensively, he's about average and at times below average defensively.

I've watched Rielly since the time he was drafted by the Leafs, then played his first game with the team and have watched him play pretty much his entire career. Over the years I'm sure everyone hoped he would turn into an elite Dman who could provide offensive and play very good/great defense and be the Leafs #1 guy. Unfortunately that hasn't quite happened and while playing number one Dman minutes, he probably should be playing a few less as a second pairing guy. However considering the Leafs didn't have anyone better, he because the default top guy.

For me I think perhaps I was looking for Rielly to have a Liljegren type of progression. In his first season where he got significant games with the Leafs he started off abit rocky and was making some mistakes and was giving up the puck carelessly a few times, but as the season went on he got progressively better and by the end of the season he was playing quite good. This season he's stepped it up and has been perhaps the Leafs most steady and reliable Dman who you can trust to play the most difficult of defensive situations. That's what I hoped Rielly would become on the defensive side, but it hasn't ever happened to date.

Who knows maybe there's still room for improvement for Rielly, but it seems unlikely at this point in his career. Perhaps the best you can hope for is to have Liljegren play with him and see if that doesn't work out. As for Rielly getting traded maybe before he signed his new contract there was a half decent chance of that happening, but now it seems highly unlikely at least for a few seasons unless something drastically changes.

Personally I wouldn't mind if he were traded and think it would hurt the team more in the locker room than on the ice. His cap space could be used to resign some guys like Bunting and maybe add another forward. Offensively I think Liljegren, Sandin and Timmins can make up for the loss of his points. I mean Rielly is good offensively, but he's not Makar or Karlsson level of being an elite point producing defenseman.

Lets hope when he comes back he can bring it up another level, but if you look back at some old threads on this board, you'd see that more than a few people have talked about his defense for a number of years now and that this wasn't just a recent thing.

 

[Notsince67]

Any true #1 D does not need to be sheltered....and he absolutely requires it...the team is firing on all cylinders and has not played this well defensively in recent memory....with Reilly out. With the salary cap the way it is we should consider all/ every option...that includes trading Reilly & anyone else....depending on the return....jmho....

You overestimate the skill of the leafs defensemen. Team defense has improved because of forward backchecking. MR eats minutes and still plays at a high level against tough competition. You play most of your D like that and you won't have any left.

 

[Razz]

Just typical Leafland chatter. Rielly is a key part of the team, always has been and the important people in the organization know that.

 

[MAB1]

Rielly's offensive game will be even more apparent with how well the Leafs have been playing defensively. That's what made Doughty so impactful on the Kings. Could excel in a defensive system while using his offensive talents to be a game-breaker.

 

[ULF_55]

I'm not a great fan of Rielly, but heck yeah he's definitely a good defenseman.

To me he isn't the ideal #1 defender.

I'm hoping how they've played without him carries on and his warts are less pronounced.

He's the Leafs Karlsson.