Leaf fan here, I’ll make some points on Rielly to help clear up some points. I won’t say who I rather have because it’s very biased.
He played 73 games (healthy scratch for the other 9). He was on and off at the beginning of the season prior to the point where they could of sent him back to the AHL without wasting a yr on his contract. Once he got past that mark he was playing 10-15(MAX) a game till December I think. Then he was allowed a larger leash time wise. Once it was obvious he couldn’t sustain 15-19 minutes strongly, he was taken back and lost a lot of Carlyle’s faith. He then became a powerplay specialist so to speak. He and Gardiner were 2nd pair (1st pair some games). Once he got Carlyle’s faith back he then became low even strength minutes, high powerplay minutes.
His highest even strength TOI was coming at the end of the season. 19.6min March 25th, 17.6min March 29th, 17.3min April 10th, 17min April 8th. This was also the time of the year the Leafs had 7 defense dressed to help manage all their times. I think Phaneuf only played an average of 22 minutes when they ran with 7 D-men.
With Dion Phaneuf and Franson possibly not playing next yr, Rielly just moved from a 4th or 5th D to 2nd or 3rd. More minutes more points.
Big point I’m putting across is that he was limited at the beginning of the season time wise and also they were baby-ing when it came to situational play (not playing in the final minutes and such). End of the season he had a lot of faith from Carlyle and was given a lot of minutes. 27 points in 73 games with 16minutes per game played. That’s a point every 43minutes played. If he plays 22minutes a game that translates to 40pts. Obviously there are more factors, but I wouldn’t be surprised with more ice time, and a lack of either Franson or Phaneuf 50pts wouldn’t be out of the question.