Rielly’s really ready, and the Leafs need him to take a step up
The struggles of Morgan Rielly have nothing to do with the lack of past belief in Dion Phaneuf or the myopic Toronto mistrust of Larry Murphy.
They have everything to do with a player of giant expectations — probably too high — in this Toronto Maple Leafs season of so much promise, falling short of his own goals, never mind yours or mine.
Rielly wants to be a star in the NHL. He has talked about becoming one of those sure-pick Team Canada defencemen. He knows what he is capable of and has studied the best defencemen in the game.
This season, for reasons of performance, health and the usual drop in confidence that comes with discouraging play, he seems to be the only upper-echelon Maple Leaf heading in the opposite direction of his teammates. That isn’t a fan creation the way Murphy’s play became a fan distraction in Toronto. It isn’t uncomfortable the way Phaneuf was singled out by Leaf fans for never living up to what his paycheque said he was.
Anyone who has spent any time with Rielly understands the quality of this kid. Maybe he can’t be Duncan Keith or Drew Doughty, where once that may have seemed possible. But he can be and should be a quick-skating, puck-moving defenceman like Kris Letang or below that, Kevin Shattenkirk. He needs to up his play and find his way in the Leafs’ run for a playoff spot.
He needs to understand that sometimes less is more for an NHL defencemen. He needs to slow his game down. He needs to stop chasing in the defensive zone. The next step for the Leafs may well be dependent upon what Rielly’s next step is as an NHL player. They have no one like him, and right now, they have no one more disappointing.
THIS AND THAT
The top three centres on the Leafs, Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak, have combined for 75 goals. The only team in the NHL with more goals from their centres are the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino with 79 goals. The Washington Capitals, for example, heading into Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, have just 57 goals this season from Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson …
This is crazy: Between the start of the new year and Sunday, Brent Burns has 12 goals and 23 assists for the San Jose Sharks. That’s 35 points in 30 games for the defenceman. That is three more points than Connor McDavid has scored in that time, and five more than Crosby. The surprise in this group: Buffalo’s Jack Eichel, who we too easily bypass, has 35 points in his past 33 games, and has been outpacing Matthews and Patrik Laine in that time ...
Seemingly the best thing for Leafs forward William Nylander’s enhanced development with the Leafs has been slotting in behind Matthews and Mitch Marner in terms of attention and expectation. The less focus there has been on Nylander, the more he has displayed his immense talent. He has the rare ability to create offence and space for himself, another revelation in this surprising Leafs season.
HEAR AND THERE
Does it strike you odd that Marcus Stroman is starting for Team USA, but Aaron Sanchez, Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Sale are not? … The Jays’ Kevin Pillar made a mistake not agreeing to play for Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic. It isn’t that Israel won its first three games. It’s the opportunity to play an international sport that sometimes gets lost on primarily North American athletes … Roy Halladay is a pitching instructor with the Philadelphia Phillies, which strikes me as kind of funny. Halladay rarely spoke to his fellow pitchers in Toronto, many of whom were too intimidated to disturb him … Did anybody notice the home run hit by ex-Jay Chris Colabello for Italy at the WBC? … This is Devon Travis’s third year as a Blue Jay. For those keeping track, he has had a left shoulder problem, a hand injury, a knuckle injury, a knee injury and surgery in this off-season to repair flap cartilage. The Jays need him healthy, which based on short term history may not be possible.
AND ANOTHER THING
Terrence Ross is Terrence Ross. And maybe that’s all he can be. Ross averaged 10.4 points a game for the Toronto Raptors before being traded. Since going to the Orlando Magic, where he primarily starts, he is averaging 11.4 points a game. He’s been 20 points or over twice, 10 points or under four times — in other words, all over the place.