I thought a good read, even if no big shocking news developments in there. Nice to hear Mo in his own words talking about the struggle getting back to speed after the injury and losing minutes with the 7D system. has to be tough for somebody who has munched minutes for this team for a decade.
One thing i always struggle with on this forum and others when discussing Mo is the expectation on him that he's Hedman or Makar. He's not...and he's not paid like them. He's paid as a top pair Dman...which he is...but he shouldnt have to drag up a partner to prove it. People act like its a downfall that his best partner is Brodie. If he needs Brodie...give him Brodie. Him being at the top of his game is what the best form of the Leafs need. So don't overthink it....just give him Brodie.
“It’s been interesting – it’s been a chance to learn,” Rielly says of his 10th NHL season during an interview with The Athletic. “I feel like prior to my injury I was really happy with how things were going. And then I came back and I didn’t get going as quickly as I wanted to. I felt like I was doing OK, but I didn’t really have the impact I wanted to have.”
“It was a tough thing because when you try to come back in a certain time frame your instincts or brain almost tell you to not overdo it, don’t over-complicate anything, just play simple,” Rielly recalled of the initial comeback from the MCL injury. “And then a week or 10 days go by where you’re just trying to play simple and you’re like, ‘Well, I’m OK now, but I’m not impacting the game at the rate I want to. Am I OK here?’ Yes. But that’s not what we’re going for.”
Rielly has probably been more affected than anyone else by Keefe’s decision to roll out seven defencemen lately. To go from playing 28 minutes, as Rielly did on Jan. 25, to playing just over 17, as he did against Carolina on March 17, has to be an adjustment.
Those were the fewest minutes Rielly had seen on a night that didn’t include injury since 2014 when he was just a kid in the league.
Rielly is averaging just under 17 minutes per game at 5-on-5 this season, down from 19 two seasons ago.
His rhythm is bound to be affected by the recent drop-off.
“It’s different for sure,” Rielly said tersely after a game recently.
Pretty much. And I'm not trying to be hard on Rielly here, but his struggles have been pretty much season long, it's not due to the introduction of 7D, although that's probably not helping.
Nobody is asking him to be other than what he was in years prior...
I don’t see the same Mo when I watch him even now. He gets beat one on one all the time, rarely skates the puck out of the zone. He still gets best in the cycle although that has never been a strength of his. The big red flag I see if his foot speed compared to previously.
I thought a good read, even if no big shocking news developments in there. Nice to hear Mo in his own words talking about the struggle getting back to speed after the injury and losing minutes with the 7D system. has to be tough for somebody who has munched minutes for this team for a decade.
One thing i always struggle with on this forum and others when discussing Mo is the expectation on him that he's Hedman or Makar. He's not...and he's not paid like them. He's paid as a top pair Dman...which he is...but he shouldnt have to drag up a partner to prove it. People act like its a downfall that his best partner is Brodie. If he needs Brodie...give him Brodie. Him being at the top of his game is what the best form of the Leafs need. So don't overthink it....just give him Brodie.
some quotes:
“It’s been interesting – it’s been a chance to learn,” Rielly says of his 10th NHL season during an interview with The Athletic. “I feel like prior to my injury I was really happy with how things were going. And then I came back and I didn’t get going as quickly as I wanted to. I felt like I was doing OK, but I didn’t really have the impact I wanted to have.”
“It was a tough thing because when you try to come back in a certain time frame your instincts or brain almost tell you to not overdo it, don’t over-complicate anything, just play simple,” Rielly recalled of the initial comeback from the MCL injury. “And then a week or 10 days go by where you’re just trying to play simple and you’re like, ‘Well, I’m OK now, but I’m not impacting the game at the rate I want to. Am I OK here?’ Yes. But that’s not what we’re going for.”
Rielly has probably been more affected than anyone else by Keefe’s decision to roll out seven defencemen lately. To go from playing 28 minutes, as Rielly did on Jan. 25, to playing just over 17, as he did against Carolina on March 17, has to be an adjustment.
Those were the fewest minutes Rielly had seen on a night that didn’t include injury since 2014 when he was just a kid in the league.
Rielly is averaging just under 17 minutes per game at 5-on-5 this season, down from 19 two seasons ago.
His rhythm is bound to be affected by the recent drop-off.
“It’s different for sure,” Rielly said tersely after a game recently.
Guy plays like A$$....so let's give him 27 minutes...sounds very Leafy to me
No one is asking him to drag up a partner. We want him to stop dragging down everyone else he plays with.
Pretty much. And I'm not trying to be hard on Rielly here, but his struggles have been pretty much season long, it's not due to the introduction of 7D, although that's probably not helping.
Nobody is asking him to be other than what he was in years prior...
he was playing great prior to injury.
struggled coming back...the 7D exacerbated that.
he's played like himself the past few games, and will again be our top D man in the playoffs.
-3 last night and the fourth goal was a mistake a vet shouldn’t make
the 7D thing is pretty recent relative to his struggles all season. It’s an excuse
He certainly hasn’t played like a top pair d man this year, so, regardless of the reasons why, It’s still a fair observation.
for a few weeks post injury. he was fine before and is again now. thats what is discussed in the article.
I don’t see the same Mo when I watch him even now. He gets beat one on one all the time, rarely skates the puck out of the zone. He still gets best in the cycle although that has never been a strength of his. The big red flag I see if his foot speed compared to previously.
Rielly better do some intense gravity training this summer. Get that speed up to Namekian levels.
He literally is paid like Hedman
Hedman makes 7.9 on a contract he signed like 7 years ago