I think hes being overrated because I have seen plenty of people say they would rather have him then Ryan Murray. A lot of people have ranked the D from that class and without any hockey played, people have already played Rielly about Murray and Reinhart quite a bit.
Not to say he doesnt have top pairing potential, but people were rating him above others simply based on the Can Russ series where he was still outplayed by Murray
I don't see how he is overrated at all.
Almost all of the Leaf fans wanted Galchenyuk IMO but we were pretty sure that the Habs would take him. If we took a defenseman, pretty much everyone wanted Rielly.
Forsberg and Grigorenko were also popular picks and I'd assume lots of people were furious too when we didn't pick either but after seeing them drop out of the top 10, I'm glad we took the defenseman with the highest potential in the draft.
Scouts were saying that Rielly is a very talented defenseman, elite vision, first pass and skating. Something that only a select few defenseman have in the NHL. They said even though he played little it was good that he played 18 games because scouts don't usually follow year before the draft unless they're prospects like Tavares, McDavid, Yakupov etc..guys that were touted to go #1 well before the draft year.
His play in the playoffs after coming back from a major injury, being one of the best defenseman in the Can-Rus series pretty much proves he's darn good.
Quote:
Blair MacDonald, NHL Central Scouting
I’ve seen Rielly do things on the ice that nobody else was doing. I saw him make those little passes to guys who weren’t expecting the puck to get there. He’s the type of player who can lead the rush and he’ll be the first guy back. I think his creativity makes him one of the top players in the league. He’s like a chess player; he’s thinking one or two moves ahead. He sees stuff coming that a lot of players don’t see.
Rielly isn't overrated, I don't see how he could be overrated 3 months after being drafted. He could be hated simply because the Leafs drafted him...and we're usually excited about all our prospects. I can understand that sentiment.
Almost all of the Leaf fans wanted Galchenyuk IMO but we were pretty sure that the Habs would take him. If we took a defenseman, pretty much everyone wanted Rielly.
Not that it really means much, but that's simply not true. Rielly had very little hype on the Leafs board before we drafted him. Not that this makes him a bad player, but few fans on the Leafs board were focusing on Rielly pre-draft. Guys like Dumba, Trouba and Reinhart were the popular picks for dmen (assuming Murray was off the board).
For example, check out this poll. About 200 people voted, it was assuming Yakupov, Murray, Galchenyuk and Grigorenko were all gone, and Rielly was the only option who didn't get a single vote: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/sh....php?t=1190199
Not that it really means much, but that's simply not true. Rielly had very little hype on the Leafs board before we drafted him. Not that this makes him a bad player, but few fans on the Leafs board were focusing on Rielly pre-draft. Guys like Dumba, Trouba and Reinhart were the popular picks for dmen (assuming Murray was off the board).
For example, check out this poll. About 200 people voted, it was assuming Yakupov, Murray, Galchenyuk and Grigorenko were all gone, and Rielly was the only option who didn't get a single vote: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/sh....php?t=1190199
To be fair though, people were quite positive or at least open-mined about the possibility of getting Rielly:
Not that it really means much, but that's simply not true. Rielly had very little hype on the Leafs board before we drafted him. Not that this makes him a bad player, but few fans on the Leafs board were focusing on Rielly pre-draft. Guys like Dumba, Trouba and Reinhart were the popular picks for dmen (assuming Murray was off the board).
For example, check out this poll. About 200 people voted, it was assuming Yakupov, Murray, Galchenyuk and Grigorenko were all gone, and Rielly was the only option who didn't get a single vote: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/sh....php?t=1190199
It simply is true. I dont know where you were reading but no one wanted Trouba, some may have wanted Murray, no one wanted Reinhart, no one except for Interactif and maybe one other wanted Dumba. Most people wanted Rielly if you we were to take a defenseman. You can go back and read through those draft discussion threads.
That poll is a terrible example. Ffs, like 90% of the votes went to the forward. Leaf fans had the forward blinders on. Including me. My mindset was that anything other than a forward, preferably a center, would be a disappointment.
It simply is true. I dont know where you were reading but no one wanted Trouba, some may have wanted Murray, no one wanted Reinhart, no one except for Interactif and maybe one other wanted Dumba. Most people wanted Rielly if you we were to take a defenseman. You can go back and read through those draft discussion threads.
That poll is a terrible example. Ffs, like 90% of the votes went to the forward.
I remember those draft day threads vividly and this is true.
It simply is true. I dont know where you were reading but no one wanted Trouba, some may have wanted Murray, no one wanted Reinhart, no one except for Interactif and maybe one other wanted Dumba. Most people wanted Rielly if you we were to take a defenseman. You can go back and read through those draft discussion threads.
That poll is a terrible example. Ffs, like 90% of the votes went to the forward.
Nope, maybe 4 or 5 people from our board at the very most mentioned Rielly's name or even had a clue about him before we drafted him(I was one of them, u can check the last post from page #5 on this thread for proof).
I remember it clearly like it was yesterday, it was just down to Murray or bust if we intended on picking a d-men.
Nope, maybe 4 or 5 people from our board at the very most mentioned Rielly's name or even had a clue about him before we drafted him(I was one of them, u can check the last post from page #5 on this thread for proof).
I remember it clearly like it was yesterday, it was just down to Murray or bust if we intended on picking a d-men.
Funny how things change.
I visited our draft discussion pretty much everyday. There was something like what? 13 threads? When picking a defenseman was brought up (it rarely was) a lot of people said Rielly because he has the highest ceiling and we're all tired of picking the safe one. He obviously wasn't a big topic of discussion but like I said, when the topic of selecting a D came up, many said Rielly over Murray because of potential.
Leafs fans wanted Murray before Rielly that is for sure.
And Rielly didn't have the most potential for a defenseman until after the draft. Most unknown, yes... just like Brett Connolly. The fact that Rielly had 0 votes proves it. Maybe a couple hours before the draft, people got some clues Burke wanted to draft Rielly and then Leafs' fans decided he was the best dman available. But before then I remember Leafs' fans only being interested in Murray as a defenseman...otherwise to draft Yakupov, Galchenyuk, Forsberg or Grigorenko.
Rielly sure is loved now though since he played in that exhibition and 2 CHL games.
We're rebuilding franchises, what else are we supposed to get excited about?
I totally understand being into the prospects/young guys (heck, as a Flames fan it's nice to have that luxury to any extent), but some fanbases are just more vocal about it than others (e.g. you see a lot less from Jets fans, etc). If, when the rebuild officially starts, Flames fans on these boards get that vocal I'll probably tell a couple of them to simmer down as well.
Leafs fans wanted Murray before Rielly that is for sure.
And Rielly didn't have the most potential for a defenseman until after the draft. Most unknown, yes... just like Brett Connolly. The fact that Rielly had 0 votes proves it. Maybe a couple hours before the draft, people got some clues Burke wanted to draft Rielly and then Leafs' fans decided he was the best dman available. But before then I remember Leafs' fans only being interested in Murray as a defenseman...otherwise to draft Yakupov, Galchenyuk, Forsberg or Grigorenko.
Rielly sure is loved now though since he played in that exhibition and 2 CHL games.
Nope, maybe 4 or 5 people from our board at the very most mentioned Rielly's name or even had a clue about him before we drafted him(I was one of them, u can check the last post from page #5 on this thread for proof).
I remember it clearly like it was yesterday, it was just down to Murray or bust if we intended on picking a d-men.
Funny how things change.
Searched up the Leafs board for opinions on Rielly before the draft:
All of the above links are from April 9 - April 12, 2012, so yes, a very large contingent of Leaf draft junkies knew he was a top end prospect.
Would've been very excited if they had drafted Forsberg (who's doing very well statistically in Sweden) or Grigo, but it's not like fans automatically assumed Rielly was a great prospect when Burke picked/spoke about him. There were fans who had seen him at the U18s and in the WHL as well
It simply is true. I dont know where you were reading but no one wanted Trouba, some may have wanted Murray, no one wanted Reinhart, no one except for Interactif and maybe one other wanted Dumba. Most people wanted Rielly if you we were to take a defenseman. You can go back and read through those draft discussion threads.
That poll is a terrible example. Ffs, like 90% of the votes went to the forward. Leaf fans had the forward blinders on. Including me. My mindset was that anything other than a forward, preferably a center, would be a disappointment.
Really there were just a few people who were strongly interested in Rielly. As noted, pretty much 90% of the board wanted a forward, when it came to dmen most wanted Murray if he was available, and if not there was no strong preference, pretty much a smattering of Dumba, Reinhart, Trouba, and Rielly.
Again, this statement was simply not true at all:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pi
If we took a defenseman, pretty much everyone wanted Rielly.
Show me one pre-draft poll from the Leafs board where Rielly was in any way strongly preferred to other dmen. There was a handful of posters who liked him, that's it.
Myself, I was pretty flip-floppy. I loved Yakupov, but was quite sure he'd go 1st overall. Liked Murray and Galchenyuk a lot, but felt they'd also be gone. I felt we shouldn't reach for a centre (Grigorenko, TT, Faksa, Gaunce, etc.), I'm very much a BPA fan, I don't really think teams draft much for need. Wouldn't have been upset with Grigorenko, but I mostly wanted either a dman or Forsberg. Among dmen I was fairly ambivalent between Rielly, Reinhart, Dumba and Trouba, if anything I supported Reinhart.
All of the above links are from April 9 - April 12, 2012, so yes, a very large contingent of Leaf draft junkies knew he was a top end prospect.
Would've been very excited if they had drafted Forsberg (who's doing very well statistically in Sweden) or Grigo, but it's not like fans automatically assumed Rielly was a great prospect when Burke picked/spoke about him. There were fans who had seen him at the U18s and in the WHL as well
There's like 3 posts there actually stating that they think Rielly is the best dman after Murray, that's a drop in the pool compared to the mountain of posts made by Leafs fans about the draft. The rest of the posts just acknowledge Rielly as one of a number of top dmen in the draft, little in the way of a strong preference for Rielly, and certainly nothing remotely close to "if we took a defenseman, pretty much everyone wanted Rielly," which was the statement I was disagreeing with.
Again, this is nothing against Rielly. Most of us are painfully underinformed compared to scouts (myself included), our opinions are essentially meaningless. Leafs fans liking or not liking a prospect on HFboards really says nothing at all about how good said prospect is. After the fact I'm definitely liking the Rielly pick, especially now that I've focused on him and was able to watch him a bunch in the Canada-Russia Challenge. But I won't pretend that he was my clear favourite dman after Murray pre-draft, or that he was the clear favourite dman for the Leafs board in general after Murray.
Obviously this was sarcasm, but he was really 3rd among dmen even in this poll. He was just behind Reinhart, just ahead of Dumba, and everyone simply assumed that Yakupov and Murray would be gone, otherwise he'd be behind Murray too.
There's like 3 posts there actually stating that they think Rielly is the best dman after Murray, that's a drop in the pool compared to the mountain of posts made by Leafs fans about the draft. The rest of the posts just acknowledge Rielly as one of a number of top dmen in the draft, little in the way of a strong preference for Rielly, and certainly nothing remotely close to "if we took a defenseman, pretty much everyone wanted Rielly," which was the statement I was disagreeing with.
Again, this is nothing against Rielly. Most of us are painfully underinformed compared to scouts (myself included), our opinions are essentially meaningless. Leafs fans liking or not liking a prospect on HFboards really says nothing at all about how good said prospect is. After the fact I'm definitely liking the Rielly pick, especially now that I've focused on him and was able to watch him a bunch in the Canada-Russia Challenge. But I won't pretend that he was my clear favourite dman after Murray pre-draft, or that he was the clear favourite dman for the Leafs board in general after Murray.
I replied to "Fearless Leaf"'s comment that "maybe 4 or 5 people from our board at the very most mentioned Rielly's name," which simply wasn't the case at all. I agree with you, the vast majority wanted a forward, and only a select few wanted Burke to draft Rielly (with Forsberg, Grigo, etc on the board).
And Rielly didn't have the most potential for a defenseman until after the draft.
Some scouts have said, BEFORE THE DRAFT, that he could have challenged Yakupov for the first overall ranking if he had not been injured, I think those scouts thought he had the "most potential for a defensemen". Now I'm not personally stating that he does, just that some have done so before the draft.
Also, why is it that only leaf fans get crapped on for "over hyping" a player? Lots of fan bases do this, that's what fandom is all about. Certainly the numbers might exasperate other fans, but it's overblown at the same time.
Also, why are leaf fans not allowed to reform their opinions of a player or a draft pick based on research and a small sample size of games? I've seen post referring back to pre-draft leaf threads in which leaf fans stated their interest in other players besides Rielly, there are plenty of reasons for that, but in the end, so friggin what? That was before the draft, some leaf fans didn't inform themselves of Rielly because they never wanted him, for reason not related to his quality as hockey player. In the end, those leaf fans should be allowed to re-inform themselves and change their opinions of Rielly as a player. If it means their research is based on "exhibition and 2 CHL games" then so be it. I'm sure there are a vast majority of hab fans who haven't even watched Gally play a single game before the draft, but by your logic, the validity of their opinion is somehow validated by the fact that they wanted him before the draft... what kind of ********* is that? Leaf fans shouldn't have their opinions of Rielly devalued because some leaf fans didn't want before the draft. I've seen this a billion times before relating to Rielly threads, it just irritates me.
Leafs fans wanted Murray before Rielly that is for sure.
And Rielly didn't have the most potential for a defenseman until after the draft. Most unknown, yes... just like Brett Connolly. The fact that Rielly had 0 votes proves it. Maybe a couple hours before the draft, people got some clues Burke wanted to draft Rielly and then Leafs' fans decided he was the best dman available. But before then I remember Leafs' fans only being interested in Murray as a defenseman...otherwise to draft Yakupov, Galchenyuk, Forsberg or Grigorenko.
Rielly sure is loved now though since he played in that exhibition and 2 CHL games.
Rielly is loved because of what he brings to the table. Leafs fans, including myself, were keen on drafting a center (heck, I've still got "Galchenyuk #1" below my name) because of how hard it is to get a good one any other way than through the draft. We've stepped away from the ledge since then.
Leafs fans wanted Murray before Rielly that is for sure.
And Rielly didn't have the most potential for a defenseman until after the draft. Most unknown, yes... just like Brett Connolly. The fact that Rielly had 0 votes proves it. Maybe a couple hours before the draft, people got some clues Burke wanted to draft Rielly and then Leafs' fans decided he was the best dman available. But before then I remember Leafs' fans only being interested in Murray as a defenseman...otherwise to draft Yakupov, Galchenyuk, Forsberg or Grigorenko.
Rielly sure is loved now though since he played in that exhibition and 2 CHL games.
We didn't really want Murray that much at all, because we were dead set on a center or forward. But Rielly did seem to be an acceptable choice because he came with high praise and all the things we like about him now. We just didn't expect to get him.
Not that we have to defend our enthusiasm now to any of you. He's a top five pick and a legitimate blue chip prospect who could be a big part of our future, which he was always projected to have by a high ceiling, but was a question mark because of his injury, despite the insinuation that the Toronto fanbase cooked him up.
Really there were just a few people who were strongly interested in Rielly. As noted, pretty much 90% of the board wanted a forward, when it came to dmen most wanted Murray if he was available, and if not there was no strong preference, pretty much a smattering of Dumba, Reinhart, Trouba, and Rielly.
Again, this statement was simply not true at all:
Show me one pre-draft poll from the Leafs board where Rielly was in any way strongly preferred to other dmen. There was a handful of posters who liked him, that's it.
Myself, I was pretty flip-floppy. I loved Yakupov, but was quite sure he'd go 1st overall. Liked Murray and Galchenyuk a lot, but felt they'd also be gone. I felt we shouldn't reach for a centre (Grigorenko, TT, Faksa, Gaunce, etc.), I'm very much a BPA fan, I don't really think teams draft much for need. Wouldn't have been upset with Grigorenko, but I mostly wanted either a dman or Forsberg. Among dmen I was fairly ambivalent between Rielly, Reinhart, Dumba and Trouba, if anything I supported Reinhart.
Wait one minute, why do we Leafs fans have to be on the defensive about being enthusiastic about having a great prospect like Morgan Rielly? Nevermind the draft, or the fact that we wanted a forward. Now we have Rielly and we can hope for great things from him.
Not sure why we're getting all these accusations that we somehow hyped him up from nothing when Bruins fans have already etched Dougie Hamilton's name on the Norris Trophy, Wings fans are patting themselves on the back for finding Zetterberg and Lidstrom replacements in Jarnkrok, Smith and Sproul and the Oilers have already signed their 2020s Dynasty core to retirement contracts.
Anyway, no one talks about hockey in Chicago anyway, so you should have an easy time ignoring all the annoying Leafs prospect talk.
Personally I was jumping up and down when NYI picked Reinhart because Forsberg was the guy I wanted. But, I remember not being angry at all when Burke picked Rielly. He is an exciting prospect and always was, Leafs nation was just blinded by the forwards that they wanted so dearly. This is largely responsible for his name not coming up often.
IMO Rielly will be the 5th best player in the draft.
