For years we’ve been hearing the media talk about how the stars and the rest of the locker room are like two separate entities. The highest paid players get all of the minutes, attention and, of course, the money. The rest of the roster has had to pick through the crumbs that fall off their plates if they want the opportunity to stay.
For years the faces attached to the “stars” label have been Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and, up until the end of last season, Mitch Marner. The one guy that had slipped through the cracks is the guy that makes the most money on the blueline, Morgan Rielly.
Rielly’s Game 7 stats include a single goal and a -10 rating in 6 games, so while you can point toward some good games in the playoffs over the years, he has definitely been part of the problem when it matters the most, just like the rest of the core. What I find extremely interesting though, is this…
To me that’s a pretty damning stat and one that is obviously bolstered by the teams current 3 game win streak without Rielly in the lineup (he was injured during the 1st of those games). What I’m curious about now is if it’s a fluke or a cause.
What we do know is that the team has searched far and wide for a partner that is able to pull that pair together and have yet to get one. The lone exceptions, which is what Rielly fans will cling to whenever he is criticized, are Ron Hainsey and, for a short time, Luke Schenn. However, do you remember why they were so good with him? Simply put, it’s because their ability to break up odd man rushes was far above average, at least while they were in Toronto. Schenn, especially, played some of the most cerebral hockey I’ve ever seen him play during his last stint with the team. He was slow, but he was smart. He didn’t push for offense, he didn’t rush the puck, he didn’t try to do any more than what was required of him, which was cover #44’s ass, because it always needs covering. He never allowed the defense to get behind him and faced down 2-on-1s like a bull every time Morgan tossed them his way, which was often. Schenn knew his role and it was less of a team role than it was a Morgan roll. That’s a tough assignment for players that have a natural tendency to do a little more than allow somebody else to thrive. Chris Tanev, who some proclaim to be the best purely defensive defender in the game today, is also known for his zone exits. He failed to click with Rielly because he didn’t always get the puck out (nobody is perfect) and Rielly would be caught out of position on the ensuing turnover. Alongside Tanev we can say that Brandon Carlo, Philippe Myers, Roman Polak, TJ Brodie, Zach Bogosian, Ilya Lyubushkin and the currently flourishing Troy Stecher have all failed to click with the teams best (not my opinion, but it’s the opinion of some) defender. There are many more that have come and gone during his 927 games as a Toronto Maple Leaf, too many to list in fact. How is it that over that long a period he hasn’t simply found a partner? A guy that just clicks into place and is happy to stay? Why are players like Bogosian, Lyubushkin and Schenn bolting for the door as soon as they can, after being paired with him so much while they’re here?
It’s past time to move along and with the way Rielly has played this year and last, it may be best for both the team and the player. Rielly struggled heavily under Craig Berube last season and, while he started the year producing well, he hasn’t done much better this year. He needs a new coach and a new environment and I would suggest that the San Jose Sharks are exactly the team that could help them out.
The Sharks have just two defenders signed through next season, Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson. It’s also been reported that they’re willing to move on from pending free agents Mario Ferraro and Timothy Liljegren. The real kicker for me though, is the fact that they didn’t draft any top end defenders during their time at the bottom of the standings. There are no blue chip prospects coming on the blueline, so Rielly won’t be blocking anybody’s way. At the same time they have some solid prospects coming up front, where they’re already doing well at the NHL level with the likes of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith Colin Graf, William Eklund, Igor Chernyshov and Michael Misa. Considering this, I wonder if they’d be open to moving on from former 1st round selection, Filip Bystedt. What the Leafs are desperately lacking in their system is future centres, Bystedt would fill that gap. The 22 year old has 36pts in 38 games at the AHL level and, in theory, would jump right into the NHL next season. At 6’3″ 210lbs, Bystedt isn’t the fastest skater out there, but he has good defensive awareness, solid puck protection skills and acts more as a playmaker in the offensive zone. He’s a future 3C with 2C upside and that’s exactly the type of prospect I’d expect for Rielly.
The biggest possible detriment to moving on from Rielly would be the lack of a powerplay quarterback, coupled with the fact that the teams blueline isn’t very mobile anyway. There are possible solutions to this coming up in free agency, though most will likely be re-signed by the time July 1st actually comes around. One option is Toronto native, Darren Raddysh. There’s risk to signing Raddysh. He’s 29 years old and is in his third full season in the NHL, all played with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He currently has 17 goals and 51pts in 48 games with Tampa, but he’s never come close to those totals before at the NHL level. However, it’s not as if he doesn’t have a history of point production. He produced 51pts in 50 games in the AHL in 2022/23, while also being a pretty steady offensive contributor wherever he went in that same league. He was a big time point producer in Junior as well, so offense has always been part of his game. The question now is, has he figured it out, or is this simply a career year that will never be repeated?
Beyond Raddysh, there are some more proven vets that are currently unsigned, including Rasmus Andersson and John Carlson, but again, I don’t suspect they’ll be on the market once July 1st hits. I point this out not to say that they shouldn’t move Rielly, but to say that the market for proven puck movers is thin. While some think that Rielly will have no value on the open market, it’s actually more likely that so few players with his offensive track record being available will create value if the team decides to move him and he agrees to waive his NMC.