Toronto Maple Leafs: Can Morgan Rielly Repeat His Norris Worthy Season

A member of the Toronto Maple Leafs nearly won their first major individual award since expansion in 1967.

Sure, Doug Gilmour won a Selke Trophy, and Auston Matthews won the Calder, but no member of the Toronto Maple Leafs has won one of the NHL’s major individual awards since before expansion.

That means no Hart, no Art Ross, no Vezina, and certainly no Norris – an award no Toronto Maple Leafs player has ever won.

Last year, Morgan Rielly came close, and was robbed by the voters.

Morgan Rielly

Rielly scored 82 points, including 20 goals.  He had a 51% possession rating, and the Leafs scored 59% of the total goals when he was on the ice.

Rielly led all NHL defenseman with 15 5v5 goals, and 43 5v5 points.

He led the NHL in total goals by a defensemen, and was 3rd in points overall.

What is most impressive about Rielly’s season, was that he did it while paired with Ron Hainsey, easily the worst player in the NHL getting consistent top-four minutes.

While paired with Hainsey, Rielly was under 50% in both shot-attempts and shots-for.   This is bad if you hope to win a Norris Trophy. (All stats naturalstattrick.com).

When on the ice with anyone else (about one-third of the time) Rielly was a 55% possession player getting nearly 52% of the total shots.

It is incredible that Rielly had the season he had while being dragged down by his partner.

So can he repeat his 72 point, Norris worthy season?

The answer is yes, and for two reasons.

Reason number one is that last year wasn’t Rielly’s breakout year.  The previous season, he was one of only three players in the NHL to score 50 points, put up a possession rating over 50% and do it against the highest percentile of competition.

The other two players were Drew Doughty and Victor Hedman, who were both nominated for the Norris that year.

So in all fairness, last season should have been Rielly’s second straight season as a Norris Trophy finalist.

Reason number two, is the Ron Hainsey factor: he’s gone.  Without Hainsey dragging him down, Rielly is likely to be even better.

Obviously this hinges on whoever Babcock gives him for a partner.  If Rielly is paired with Barrie, Dermott, or (dare we hope?) Jake Gardiner, he’s almost certain to improve, given that he’s just entering his age 25 season and the Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the best rosters in hockey.

If, however, Mike Babock sabotages him with Cody Ceci, all bets are off.  Maybe Ceci will turn his career around and it will work out great, but I’m not counting on it.

If Rielly gets a partner who can be said to be an improvement over Ron Hainsey, then he may finally get the Norris Trophy nomination he’s deserved for the last two seasons.