Editor In Leaf
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Toronto Maple Leafs: The Most Disappointing Player This Season

By Wilbert Timmermans

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 07: Morgan Rielly #44, Ilya Mikheyev #65, and Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skate during player introductions before playing the Vegas Golden Knights at the Scotiabank Arena on November 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 07: Morgan Rielly #44, Ilya Mikheyev #65, and Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skate during player introductions before playing the Vegas Golden Knights at the Scotiabank Arena on November 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 9: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes the ice before playing the Philadelphia Flyers at the Scotiabank Arena on November 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 9: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes the ice before playing the Philadelphia Flyers at the Scotiabank Arena on November 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /

My Take

Most disappointing so far? Take a pick, the players that have been disappointing are in the majority, those who exceeded or met expectations are the exceptions.

During the times when the Toronto Maple Leafs were actually really, really bad, Morgan Rielly was the exception to the rule. He was good, the beacon of better times to come. Now the better times are supposedly here, Rielly himself comes off a breakout season and he’s not even close to as good as last year.

His production is good, slightly less compared to last season, but still on pace for 64 points on the season. It’s his defensive game, however, that has been a nightmare this season. The Toronto Maple Leafs have 51 goals against, Rielly was on the ice for 21 of those goals, that’s just too much for the star-defenseman of this team.

When I woke up the morning after Pittsburgh served Toronto a dish off humiliation, I instantly wanted to blame Roman Polak for the recent results (an old habit), only to realize the Toronto Maple Leafs managed this horrid record without Roman Polak.

They managed to get the current, disappointing, record with Rielly, Muzzin, Barrie, and Ceci and despite the injuries, below league goaltending numbers, insane schedule, and everything else you can possibly think off, it still should be better.

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