The Leafs are on a heater since Rielly's injury, which has some asking whether or not the Leafs can afford to move him
First they lost Jake Muzzin. Then they lost T.J. Brodie. If that wasn't bad enough, they then lost Morgan Rielly - arguably their best defenseman. In years past, that might have been a major problem for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Apparently that's not the case this year, as the team has gone 6-0-1 since Reilly went down. What's more is that through those 7 games without Rielly, the Leafs also lead the league in save percentage (.948), points (13) and points percentage (.929).
Remembering when the Leafs were 4-4-2 to start the season after an underwhelming western road trip and injuries to both their goaltenders, most of us thought the sky was falling. The injuries didn't stop there but the momentum and confidence returned to a lineup that had talent all throughout. Add to that some increased opportunities for the likes of Mark Giordano, Rasmus Sandin, Justin Holl and Timothy Liljegren and the Leafs have managed to go 12-1-4 since their iffy start. Everything is clicking and it's great to be a Leafs fan all of a sudden.
Injuries to your blueline are always tough to overcome but Holl is averaging a career high in ice time at close to 21 and a half minutes and has led the team in ice time a couple of times, the 39-year-old Giordano is averaging close to 20 a night, often exceeding 24 minutes, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin are pressing around 18 minutes a night, but have played closer to 20+ mins since the injuries to the team's top 3 defenders.
The Leafs' defense was top 10 in a lot of analytical metrics before tonight's shutout victory. They had given up the 4th least amount of goals in the NHL, and their defense was already meshing very well with the spectacular goaltending they've been receiving from their 1A/1B tandem of Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov.
For whatever reason, things are really clicking in Toronto right now. Naturally, the Leafs are probably not considering moving Rielly, since the sample size of success for this current D corps is very small. Who's to say that it couldn't have been even better with Rielly healthy and Victor Mete/Mac Hollowell/Conor Timmins sitting?
Then again, Rielly's $7.5M cap hit could provide the Leafs with a hell of a lot of cap space with which to spend on a scoring left winger to play in the top six. There are certainly arguments you could make both for and against moving Rielly. You now know that they can win without him. You also know that they haven't won anything with him.
Look, I know what the narrative is in all of this. There are a lot of people talking about the fact that the Leafs are showing that they don't need Morgan Rielly. While that might be true, he is still an important player in that locker room. He's a leader. He's a key piece who plays big minutes in all situations. Is he perfect? No, he's not. But he is effective in a lot of ways. This team would miss him if he was gone.
Having said that, the one thing this stretch without Rielly did show us is that both Liljegren and Sandin are ready for much larger roles with the team. At the end of the day, Mark Giordano is 39. He's not going to play forever. Rielly has 7 years left on his contract after this year. If you deal Rielly, you're going to have a pretty big hole in the lineup in a couple of years. That's not a hole that you can just fill with anyone.
Lastly, Rielly has a no-movement clause built into his contract. Like it or not, for better or worse, Rielly is here to stay - and let's be honest; if there's anyone on this roster who deserves to be there to hoist a Stanley Cup, it's Rielly. He's played through some of the darkest days in franchise history. He takes way more heat than is due and he's not appreciated the way he should be. While it's impressive what this team has been able to achieve in his absence, the Leafs shouldn't be in any rush to move him.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 7 | 299 ANSWERS The Leafs are on a heater since Rielly's injury, which has some asking whether or not the Leafs can afford to move him Can the Leafs afford to move Morgan Rielly? | ||
| Yes | 74 | 24.7 % |
| No | 144 | 48.2 % |
| I'm sure they could, but it's way too risky | 81 | 27.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
