Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Morgan Rielly was outstanding on defence Wednesday night, leading Team WHL to a 1-0 shootout win over Russia.
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If Wednesday night is any indication, Brian Burke can start working on fancy superlatives for Morgan Rielly.
The Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman, a soon-to-be Burke protege with the Toronto Maple Leafs, juked, jived and jitterbugged around Russians galore in Team WHL’s 1-0 shootout win in Game 5 of the Subway Super Series at the Pacific Coliseum.
The series, which is pegged as a last audition for Canadian world junior team tryout spots, wraps up Thursday at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
Team WHL outscored the Russians 3-0 in the best-of-five shoot-out round thanks to the goaltending of Laurent Brossoit and goals by Hunter Shinkaruk, Mark McNeill and Sam Reinhart and propelled the Canadians into a 3-2 series lead in the process.
Rielly is slated to be part of Thursday’s lineup, and, if the West Vancouver 18-year-old is on his game, he’s a treat to watch.
The 6-foot, 205 pounder, the fifth overall pick by Burke and Co. this summer, showed Wednesday a skill set that seemed like it came right out of Doug Flutie’s playbook in the quarterback’s prime. Rielly can make all the passes. Certainly. He can also improvise and scramble and leave opponents flailing at shadows.
He spent most of the game paired with Brandon Wheat King Ryan Pulock, and he didn’t seem to have any trouble defensively, thanks in part to an active stick. And he showed he could take a hit and come back when he was pulverized by Yaroslav Kosov in the second period.
I live in Edmonton, and when I saw Rielly last season against the Edmonton Oil Kings in the playoffs, I thought he would be the best player from the draft. I'm no scout or anything, but as you guys saw today, the kid is good. He'd be a lot more hyped if he played in the OHL.
It would be a Suter to Karlsson comparison. A safe steady D who rarely takes risks vs a player so offensively gifted and elusive that the puck is on his stick more than his own end. In the defensive end he is unbelievable at stripping players from the puck, and uses his speed and active stick to retrieve it and carry it up the other way. Pretty much polar opposites but considering a strictly defensive aspect, Murray is much better, however Riellys skill set allows him to be quite effective in that respect.
About as well as Murray compares to Rielly offensively. Still effective, but not on the same level.
Chris has a great comparison there, Suter(Murray) to Karlsson(Rielly), though Rielly is a touch better in his own end than Karlsson is, more of a Letang-type.
In my opinion, I would drop Hamilton and Murphy from Team Canada's roster and go with Pulock and Rielly to carry the offensive mail. Infact I don't know why Murray was on the 1st PP unit when you had these 2 guys on the roster.
I thought the entire WHL defence was very good last night, even Siemens. For me you can add Harrington to the fab 5 and you wouldn't miss a beat.
Right now I would go:
Murray-Harrington Shut down pair
Reinhart-Dumba
Pulock-Rielly as the starting 6.
In my opinion, I would drop Hamilton and Murphy from Team Canada's roster and go with Pulock and Rielly to carry the offensive mail. Infact I don't know why Murray was on the 1st PP unit when you had these 2 guys on the roster.
I thought the entire WHL defence was very good last night, even Siemens. For me you can add Harrington to the fab 5 and you wouldn't miss a beat.
Right now I would go:
Murray-Harrington Shut down pair
Reinhart-Dumba
Pulock-Rielly as the starting 6.
I didnt think Pulock was very good last night, Rielly was carrying the offensive load while being the better defensive partner. Id much prefer Hamilton
Murray - Rielly
Hamilton - Harrington
Reinhart - Dumba
Corrado/Pulock/Poulliot
In my opinion, I would drop Hamilton and Murphy from Team Canada's roster and go with Pulock and Rielly to carry the offensive mail. Infact I don't know why Murray was on the 1st PP unit when you had these 2 guys on the roster.
I thought the entire WHL defence was very good last night, even Siemens. For me you can add Harrington to the fab 5 and you wouldn't miss a beat.
Right now I would go:
Murray-Harrington Shut down pair
Reinhart-Dumba
Pulock-Rielly as the starting 6.
Hamilton will be there. He's just too good at this level not to be.
Gotta figure guys like Percy and others from the O will push for a spot, plus the Q guys. Pouliot is playing on the Series game tonight and he's gunna get a long look as well.
Hamilton will be there. He's just too good at this level not to be.
Gotta figure guys like Percy and others from the O will push for a spot, plus the Q guys. Pouliot is playing on the Series game tonight and he's gunna get a long look as well.
I have not been impressed by Hamilton from the Summer series or the OHL subway series, I like his game even less on the big ice surface. It wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't make the starting 6, he may make the team as an extra, but I would leave him and Murphy home. Murphy has been a dissapointment this year, others have been more impressive than these 2 IMO. On merit they may not deserve making the team this year.
Wouldn't it be amazing to see Percy and Reilly together on the ice for Team Canada?!
Has Dumba really earned a spot on the Team? Haven't heard a lot about him this year. Obviously don't get much of a chance to see him in Ontario.
Matt Dumba hasn't earned a spot yet, at least to the extent of players like Morgan Rielly or Ryan Murray have, etc., but he deserves to be there. He's good.
I didnt think Pulock was very good last night, Rielly was carrying the offensive load while being the better defensive partner. Id much prefer Hamilton
Murray - Rielly
Hamilton - Harrington
Reinhart - Dumba
Corrado/Pulock/Poulliot
IMO.
I thought the entire D played very well last night, Rielly stood out due to his skating and puck movement. I wouldn't say the others were bad just because they don't play a style that Morgan is able to. 6 good defenceman, all effective in their own styles. Any partner of Rielly would be silly to rush the puck when you have Morgan out there. This is why I think Murphy should not make the roster, if he had been partnered with Morgan, Reilly wouldn't have touched the puck since both like to handle it.
I thought the entire D played very well last night, Rielly stood out due to his skating and puck movement. I wouldn't say the others were bad just because they don't play a style that Morgan is able to. 6 good defenceman, all effective in their own styles. Any partner of Rielly would be silly to rush the puck when you have Morgan out there. This is why I think Murphy should not make the roster, if he had been partnered with Morgan, Reilly wouldn't have touched the puck since both like to handle it.
The less Dion handles the puck, the better his stock will be. He's okay on rushes but it's his big shot and physicality that made him what he is today. He would look like his first 2 years playing with Morgan IMO.
Don't get me wrong I love Rielly and I think he's fantastic, but there's a part of me that worries about his game translating to the NHL.
I have worries about all the Leaf's defense-men, having to play in front of very poor goaltending. The Leafs' young 'd' seem to take backwards steps defensively, because they often try to do too much in their own zone in order to cover for their weak goalies. With a proven #1 goalie those same 'd' would look a lot better, and develop properly. Morgan Rielly will be a star (Duncan Keith is a better comparison than I have read here) providing there is a real goalie behind him. Otherwise, he will follow the path of other young Leafs' 'd' (Schenn, Franzon, etc.) and regress in development.
I would expect the Leaf's organization understands this need.
I have worries about all the Leaf's defense-men, having to play in front of very poor goaltending. The Leafs' young 'd' seem to take backwards steps defensively, because they often try to do too much in their own zone in order to cover for their weak goalies. With a proven #1 goalie those same 'd' would look a lot better, and develop properly. Morgan Rielly will be a star (Duncan Keith is a better comparison than I have read here) providing there is a real goalie behind him. Otherwise, he will follow the path of other young Leafs' 'd' (Schenn, Franzon, etc.) and regress in development.
I would expect the Leaf's organization understands this need.
I think that a lot of the D-men trying to do too much (in the last few years) has been due to Ron Wilson. He insisted D-men try to pinch when they weren't those types of D. That resulted in 5 or 6 odd man breaks the other way every game and the goalies left out to hang. Francois Beauchemin is a perfect example of this.
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Don't get me wrong I love Rielly and I think he's fantastic, but there's a part of me that worries about his game translating to the NHL.
Why is that?
Elite skating, IQ and vision. His defensive ability is also good, definitely not below average.
I'm not worried about Rielly at all.
All of our prospects that are in our system have one weakness or another that stops them from making the NHL right away.
Colborne...great size, but he's a humble giant, skating and decision making still needs to be better.
Kadri is has great playmaking skills but needs to tone down the dekes, stop playing NHL 12 and start playing NHL and skating/shot have also been a problem.
I don't see any of those glaring weaknesses in Rielly. The only way he'll find any weakness in his game is if he plays in the NHL and figures out what needs to be changed. He's just too smart and talented not to learn from his mistakes and adapt if needed.
he's been playing pretty well. pretty savvy and plays a very physical game. been far too long since the Leafs team as a whole played really physical and made the other team pay to play.
I think that a lot of the D-men trying to do too much (in the last few years) has been due to Ron Wilson. He insisted D-men try to pinch when they weren't those types of D. That resulted in 5 or 6 odd man breaks the other way every game and the goalies left out to hang. Francois Beauchemin is a perfect example of this.
'D' who can skate like Gardiner, Rielly, and Phaneuf should have a green light to pinch. They should also be encouraged to get involved in the offense, by joining the rush. I am more concerned about the goalies making mistakes while the puck is in the 'd' zone. That's where the 'd' begin to "run around" and do too much. Without the proper goalie, the problems will continue.
It would be a Suter to Karlsson comparison. A safe steady D who rarely takes risks vs a player so offensively gifted and elusive that the puck is on his stick more than his own end. In the defensive end he is unbelievable at stripping players from the puck, and uses his speed and active stick to retrieve it and carry it up the other way. Pretty much polar opposites but considering a strictly defensive aspect, Murray is much better, however Riellys skill set allows him to be quite effective in that respect.
Thought Murray made a ton on mistakes last night while contributing nothing offensively. Never impressed when I see Murray play, although not much (WJC, World Championships,CAN/RUS summer series, and Subway Series). Defensively, he is average imo.
I think that a lot of the D-men trying to do too much (in the last few years) has been due to Ron Wilson. He insisted D-men try to pinch when they weren't those types of D. That resulted in 5 or 6 odd man breaks the other way every game and the goalies left out to hang. Francois Beauchemin is a perfect example of this.
Before I got to this sentence, that was exactly what I was going to say. Especially his first couple of months, you could tell he was being forced to pinch in a way he wasn't used to.
