Is Morgan Rielly About to Have a Career Season with the Toronto Maple Leafs?
The Toronto Maple Leafs best defenseman could have a career year with Chris Tanev
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed only one good defenseman on July first, but they might get two good defenseman out of the deal.
In a best case scenario, the Toronto Maple Leafs signing of Chris Tanev elevates Morgan Rielly's game to heretofore unsuspected heights and takes the team into the stratosphere of excellence and glory.
It's a best case scenario, since Tanev is a the hockey equivalent of a 306 year-old wizard who has just ridden into the Shire in a last ditch attempt to save the universe, but.....
It could happen.
Is Morgan Rielly About to Have a Career Season with the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Morgan Rielly is awesome and I think we take him for granted as Leafs fans since he's been here for so long and is just generally excellent while being just a smidge below the level that would make him into a legend.
However, he has been given a long list of duds to partner with, and only in the twilight of TJ Brodie's career did he ever have a partner as good as he deserved.
But, Chris Tanev - a unicorn at the NHL Level as a player who is both extremely good defensively and doesn't tend to get hemmed in his own zone due to his inability to move the puck - could change all that.
Rielly's career high is 20 goals and 72 points in 82 games, which he achieved in 2018-19 playing with Ron Hainsey. That year Rielly was a real candidate for the Norris Trophy, though it's not as if he was robbed when he didn't win it.
Rielly has never come close to the 1.72 Points per 60 he scored during that season where the Leafs won nearly 60% of his 5v5 minutes despite an expected goals rating that was nothing to write home about.
Unsurprisingly Rielly's best Expected Goals Rating came in the dominant 2020 season where the Leafs played only against Canadian teams.
This year he could put it all together and have his best season. Tanev should allow him to run wild and do what he does best, which is move the puck up the ice to Auston Matthews.
Craig Berube should be able to run Matthews and whoever his wingers are + the Rielly and Tanev combo out against all the other top lines without ever worrying about matchups and easily win those minutes.
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A new career high as well as the best peripheral numbers of his career could be in store for Morgan Rielly this season....as long as the 34 year-old Chris Tanev can stay healthy and avoid decline.