A Way Too Early Look At Toronto Maple Leafs Contending For NHL Awards

Norris Trophy - Morgan Rielly

Some of you think Morgan Reilly winning the Norris trophy is laughable, with Cale Makar, Adam Fox, and Quinn Hughes being the favourites to win this trophy.

While it is probably laughable to put Reilly in this conversation, given that he has not received a vote for this award in two years, hear me out.

The Maple Leafs signing Chris Tanev will give Reilly his first competent defence partner in years. Tanev is a phenomenal shutdown guy, which will take some pressure off Reilly in the defensive zone and allow him to get more involved on the offensive side, jumping up in rushes or joining the cycle in the offensive zone.

Tanev is also an excellent puck-moving defenseman. His ability to get the puck out of the defensive end will naturally give Reilly more time in the offensive zone and more chances to pick up points rather than being pinned in his zone because Ilya Lybushkin or T.J. Brodie were allergic to passing to players in blue and white sweaters.

Reilly has only finished in the top five in Norris trophy voting once in his career in 2018-19, with 20 goals and 72 points.

Playing with Tanev and quarterbacking a powerplay with Matthews, Marner, and William Nylander, I could see Reilly having another year similar to this 2018-19 season.

While that stat line may not be good enough for a Norris, this Reilly-Tanev paring is extremely interesting, and it will be cool to see if Tanev's style can bring out the best in Mo.