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2019-2020 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

He's always been easy to push back at his blue line, but could largely make up for it with his physical capabilities. That hasn't been there for him this season.

I understand the leadership role of wanting to be in the dressing room and in the trenches in pursuit of the Cup, but I sort of wonder if we might have been better off letting him heal properly.
 
If only we had a young LHD who could skate and move the puck but just wasn't in the NHL due to a lack of a roster spot who could come up and relieve Rielly for some games.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
If only we had a young LHD who could skate and move the puck but just wasn't in the NHL due to a lack of a roster spot who could come up and relieve Rielly for some games.
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Although I am not sure you'd necessarily want to throw that young hypothetical LHD into the fire and put him into the position where he has to defend against an on-rushing McDavid (or Scheifele's line, etc.). Ideally you'd want to ease him into it and put him in a position to succeed, which means you'd need some other LHD to take on Rielly's minutes. I don't know that Holl-Marincin is up to that task (Holl-Muz maybe, but Muz is still weeks away) and Dermott has been having struggles of his own so I don't think it would benefit his development to be thrust into top pairing competition.
 
Hobbes said:
Although I am not sure you'd necessarily want to throw that young hypothetical LHD into the fire and put him into the position where he has to defend against an on-rushing McDavid (or Scheifele's line, etc.). Ideally you'd want to ease him into it and put him in a position to succeed, which means you'd need some other LHD to take on Rielly's minutes. I don't know that Holl-Marincin is up to that task (Holl-Muz maybe, but Muz is still weeks away) and Dermott has been having struggles of his own so I don't think it would benefit his development to be thrust into top pairing competition.
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Yeah Muzzin's injury definitely complicates things, but there's a very good chance one of Dermott or Sandin will be playing top-4 minutes with the team next year as well so this would have just been a good opportunity to see if they were up to the task.

This also could have been something they did earlier in the season when Rielly's injury was reportedly even worse. Obviously there were times when the cap would have made that impossible but we've had a number of other guys go on LTIR during the season that would have given us space.

And I don't think they should have shut Rielly down or anything, but a version of "load management" seems like it would have been a good idea if he's essentially been playing in pain all season long.
 
Article in the Athletic where Rielly admits to playing in intense pain earlier in the year.  Even had a MRI to make sure there was no damage that would "force" him to sit.  Said the Christmas break helped ease the pain.
Not sure what the lower injury is, but let's hope the 8 day layoff coming up gives him time to heal it up even more.
 
Highlander said:
Article in the Athletic where Rielly admits to playing in intense pain earlier in the year.  Even had a MRI to make sure there was no damage that would "force" him to sit.  Said the Christmas break helped ease the pain.
Not sure what the lower injury is, but let's hope the 8 day layoff coming up gives him time to heal it up even more.
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From my doctors chair watching him play, I'm leaning towards hip. He's fine skating straight but slower this year on his quick pivots/transitions.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
Well, that explains his poor play this year.  They should sit him and let him mend.
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It does. Guys have gone around him pretty regularly this year. I can see the Leafs resting him if they can get some separation from 4th in the Atlantic.
 
This isn't unexpected. A lot of people speculated that he was playing injured. In a way it's comforting to confirm that his abilities haven't precipitously declined overnight.

I'd be tempted to sit him and bring in Sandin.
 
Strangelove said:
This isn't unexpected. A lot of people speculated that he was playing injured. In a way it's comforting to confirm that his abilities haven't precipitously declined overnight.

I'd be tempted to sit him and bring in Sandin.
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^ What this gentleman said, I say too.
 
50+ goals for Auston?  Sounds awesome.  Noticeable improvement under Keefe as compared to under Babcock:

pntgeZlQp


[tweet]1215158984107315200[/tweet]
 
https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1215341987580260352

Kerfoot (along with Tavares and Nylander) is pointless in his last 3 games, so might be a little easier for Johnsson to get his spot in the top-6 back.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1215341987580260352

Kerfoot (along with Tavares and Nylander) is pointless in his last 3 games, so might be a little easier for Johnsson to get his spot in the top-6 back.
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They haven't been good since the road Winnipeg game. Back to back bads ones though but they were facing McDavid and Scheifele. I can see them moving Kerfoot back to 3c. I'd prefer they move Engvall up to Matthews, put Hyman or Johnsson on 3rd LW.
 
https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2020/01/11/sheldon-keefe-kyle-dubas-and-i-probably-look-at-toughness-in-a-different-manner-than-others-do/

One of the biggest opinions you hear a lot in the market is that the team needs to play a tougher, heavier brand of hockey to be successful in the postseason. Have you and Kyle Dubas decided you don?t necessarily believe in that?

Keefe: When Kyle and I do talk with this team and when we?ve worked together previously, we don?t for a second disregard the fact that you need to be competitive and you need to have a level of physicality that is going to allow you to play the way you want to play and also persevere when things are difficult. I think we probably look at toughness in a different manner than others do. We would describe it mainly as just the ability to play through difficult circumstances. That, to us, is toughness.

We have a high level of skill. Perhaps other teams would say, ?We?re really tough or we?re a really physical team, but man, I wish we had a little more skill.? Other teams are saying that. We are on the other side. We feel that we?ve got an abundance of skill and the ability to make plays which ultimately lead to having the puck which ultimately leads to scoring goals at a high rate. That is the object of the game, ultimately.
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I'd like to thank the NHL for not scheduling a Leaf game on a Saturday night in January.  Of all months, no game on a Saturday night in January.  Because I've got so much stuff on the go on Saturday nights in January.

And I refuse to watch Sunday hockey games.  It's just wrong.
 
Frank E said:
I'd like to thank the NHL for not scheduling a Leaf game on a Saturday night in January.  Of all months, no game on a Saturday night in January.  Because I've got so much stuff on the go on Saturday nights in January.

And I refuse to watch Sunday hockey games.  It's just wrong.
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It was particularly nice of them to schedule the prime time match-up to be between two teams that are amongst the worst in the league (the winless-in-6 Sens against the winless-in-8 Habs) just so there's no incentive whatsoever to watch it and be distracted.
 
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