Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly Continues Insane Start
By James Tanner
After matching an obscure Bobby Orr record to start the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs Morgan Rielly is continuing his excellent play.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are roughly 1/6 through the NHL schedule, and Morgan Rielly is playing the best hockey of his life.
Coming off a career high 52 points, in a season where he probably should have been nominated for a Norris Trophy, Morgan Rielly has taken his game to a new level. He can now be considered one of the best defenseman in the NHL.
With two goals last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Morgan Rielly has six goals (which matches all of last year) and 18 points in 12 games.
Morgan Rielly – Ice Time
Averaging just under 18 minutes 5v5 per night, Rielly is the 29th most used defenseman in the NHL. Overall he averages 22:26 per night, which is 39th in the league. The most used defenseman is Drew Doughty at over 27 minutes per night.
Considering the Leafs weakness is their defense, and considering they have one of the best players in the world on their “weak” blueline, it might make sense for Babcock to increase Rielly’s ice time.
An extra couple minutes 5v5 would surely help the team, and why not try Rielly on the PK? Currently he averages about one minutes per game on the PK. I know he’s not a great defensive player (maybe not even a good one) but he can move the puck with a pass or by skating it better than almost anyone else in the world. No one thinks Mitch Marner is very good defensively, but he’s effective on the PK for the exact same reasons Rielly would be.
Rielly – Stats
Morgan Rielly is fourth in the NHL, among defenseman, with seven 5v5 points. His points/60 is fifth best in the NHL. Everyone ahead of him has played less minutes.
For some perspective on how good that is, it’s 18th in the NHL if you include forwards too. He leads all defenseman in goals and points.
Rielly’s 18 overall points rank him 11th in the NHL scoring race. If we factor the various ties, he has the fifth highest total in the league. He is currently on a 105 point pace, so some regression should be expected (if not guaranteed) but regardless, it’s impressive.
At 5v5, Rielly is over 50% possession, which is great because he plays tough minutes (though Babcock has made a better effort to give some of the hard minutes to Gardiner / Zaitsev this year) and is attached at the hip to Ron Hainsey, by far the worst partner any other similar defenseman has.
Whether we look at shot-attempts, scoring chances, shots, or goals, Rielly has been a positive force when on the ice. He does have a high PDO, but this owes to a save percentage over .930 when he’s been on ice more so than a high shooting percentage.
The gaudy offensive numbers aren’t sustainable (he won’t score 100 points, probably) but they aren’t that inflated either. The Leafs have a crazy offensive team and he’s their best offensive defenseman. An 82 point season is not out of the question.
For the record, 82 points is Erik Karlsson’s career high. Brett Burns’ is 76.
Morgan Rielly is playing out of his mind. And though he gets a lot offensive zone starts and plays on a stacked team (though one without two of its best players, currently) he also has to deal with Ron Hainsey, so it’s not like he’s just an O.K player playing well in a perfect situation.
Next. Toronto Maple Leafs Rumour Post. dark
The Toronto Maple Leafs Morgan Rielly is legitimately one of the best defenseman in the NHL. If the season ended today, he’d win the Norris Trophy. He should have been nominated last season.
His name should be uttered alongside Erik Karlsson, Brett Burns, Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman, Dougie Hamilton and Seth Jones when people talk about who is the best in the NHL.