Morgan Rielly

[Cpedersen84]

Sorry to hijack this, but I've got a flames fan coming hard after my Sam Bennett, should I offer him up for his rielly?

[MZac]

Sorry to hijack this, but I've got a flames fan coming hard after my Sam Bennett, should I offer him up for his rielly?

Need more info on your league. Id start a thread on it and provide categories, position info, league depth etc.

[Wonko]

I think Reilly will always have to contend with Gardiner for #1 PP duties. I think they will eventually share the spot pretty evenly depending on who is hot diminishing both of their values somewhat.

[Polecon]

A lot will depend on whether and how long Zaitsev is signed for.

Using puckalytics.com data, Rielly's PP %TOI went from 33.3% to 19.4% with Zaitsev's arrival. Last year Z is on ice for 40.6% of powerplay minutes, while Gardiner saw his usage climb from 42.4% in 15/16 to 52.7%. With the 4f1d structure, I can't see how Rielly gets back in without Zaitsev taking a walk or a major injury. Hell only 4 defence played more than 10 minutes of powerplay time with the Leafs last year- Carrick filled in for Rielly when he was hurt. And we all know the Leafs are in the market for a "true #1 D." I think Rielly might be toast as a fantasy option.

[BreadManPanarin]

A lot will depend on whether and how long Zaitsev is signed for.

Using puckalytics.com data, Rielly's PP %TOI went from 33.3% to 19.4% with Zaitsev's arrival. Last year Z is on ice for 40.6% of powerplay minutes, while Gardiner saw his usage climb from 42.4% in 15/16 to 52.7%. With the 4f1d structure, I can't see how Rielly gets back in without Zaitsev taking a walk or a major injury. Hell only 4 defence played more than 10 minutes of powerplay time with the Leafs last year- Carrick filled in for Rielly when he was hurt. And we all know the Leafs are in the market for a "true #1 D." I think Rielly might be toast as a fantasy option.

PP Time Split for Leafs Defensemen Games 4 - 6:

Defenseman 1	Defenseman 2	Frequency
N/A	MORGAN RIELLY	46.51%
N/A	JAKE GARDINER	34.88%
N/A	NIKITA ZAITSEV	6.98%
N/A	JAKE GARDINER	6.98%
NIKITA ZAITSEV	MORGAN RIELLY	2.33%
NIKITA ZAITSEV	JAKE GARDINER	2.33%

Rielly already took Zaitsev's PP job from him in the playoffs, but whether that was the start of a new long term trend or just Babcock staying with the hot hand, who knows. Personally I think Rielly is a more talented PP QB than Zaitsev, although Zaitsev has the heavier slapper.

Rielly doesn't necessarily need Zaitsev to take a walk or get hurt... he just needs to outplay him.

[Polecon]

PP Time Split for Leafs Defensemen Games 4 - 6:

Defenseman 1	Defenseman 2	Frequency
N/A	MORGAN RIELLY	46.51%
N/A	JAKE GARDINER	34.88%
N/A	NIKITA ZAITSEV	6.98%
N/A	JAKE GARDINER	6.98%
NIKITA ZAITSEV	MORGAN RIELLY	2.33%
NIKITA ZAITSEV	JAKE GARDINER	2.33%

Rielly already took Zaitsev's PP job from him in the playoffs, but whether that was the start of a new long term trend or just Babcock staying with the hot hand, who knows. Personally I think Rielly is a more talented PP QB than Zaitsev, although Zaitsev has the heavier slapper.

Rielly doesn't necessarily need Zaitsev to take a walk or get hurt... he just needs to outplay him.

Not sure we can read too much into this as Zaitsev was probably concussed (https://www.russianmachineneverbreak...ed-concussion/), which carried over from the regular season (there probably should be questions asked about his playing actually). Rielly is the obvious replacement here. His deployment under Babcock in 16/17 is very concerning. If it continues through the first quarter of 17/18, I think I might be selling, which would really suck.