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Two Popular Toronto Podcasters Let Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly Have It Amid Rough Stretch

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Mike Armenti
December 22, 2024 (1:42 PM)

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Morgan Rielly has not been good for the Maple Leafs this season, and two popular Toronto podcasters have really let Rielly have it over his lackluster play.

The Maple Leafs dropped a disappointing 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, much to the dismay of the fans who paid way too much to take in a rough game at Scotiabank Arena on Hockey Night in Canada.

There were a lot of key factors in the loss, but Morgan Rielly being -2 inside of the first 5 minutes of the game certainly didn't do the team any favours.

Rielly has elevated his game at times, especially in the playoffs, but in many cases, he has become somewhat of a liability for the Leafs on some nights -- something you just can't do if you're making $7.5M per season.

Following the loss last night, popular Toronto podcasters JD Bunkis and Sam McKee took to their show "Leafs Talk" to discuss the game. Rielly's name came up, and for good reason.

The Maple Leafs have scored the least number of goals from the blueline of any teams in the 3rd period in the entire league, according to Bunkis, who had a clear message for Rielly following the missed opportunity to steal two points against a mediocre Islanders team.

"You gotta start doing something, man. You gotta start doing something other than being a liability." -Bunkis on Rielly

Rielly, who recently dropped the gloves with Tage Thompson in response to a hit on Auston Matthews, has just 4 assists in his last 10 games with the Leafs, which is still somewhat respectable, but nowhere near the level of production a team needs from their top defenseman. It's made worse by the fact that Rielly has not scored a goal since November 5th.

Sam McKee went on an impassioned rant about Rielly during the segment, pointing out the fact that fans are finally beginning to turn their attention to Rielly in the absence of a true blueline whipping boy, reminiscent of Liljegren, Holl and Gardiner, who drew much of the heat in years past.

"He's entered, and rightfully so, he's entered the crosshairs of Leafs Nation here... he gets a pass here, too, like in this city. He has been getting a pass for a long time in terms of like a real referendum on his game.

Like, there's a certain faction of Leafs Nation that really is hard on him, but I do think as sort of the 'number one defenseman' on this team, the highest paid defenseman on the team, and for some of his regular season stuff that he's had over the past few years, I don't think he gets it that bad.

But, with the lack of a Timothy Liljegren, with a lack of a Justin Holl, with a lack of a Jake Gardiner -- being the highest paid on the D corps and having definitely the worst plus/minus... he's had issues before, he can dig out of them, we know the playoffs stuff, we know how good he can be in the playoffs, but this is not going away, this conversation."

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With Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev taking most of the tough matchups away from Rielly, he really should be a lot more productive than he is and should be taking advantage of the softer matchups -- especially as an offensive defenseman.

How the Leafs use him may have a little bit to do with the lack of production, with just 18 points across 34 games this season, but he also needs to be able to make the most out of his opportunities and contribute where he can offensively, given the fact that he's playing more than 21 minutes per game this season.

There's a reason fans are starting to get on Rielly's case, but the real question is, will Rielly figure this out and start to produce a little more or will the fan base turn on him first and run yet another defenseman out of town?

The truth is probably that the answer lies in what he can do in the playoffs, so we may have to wait until May or June for our answer to that question.

Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily

William Nylander Fully in Rocket Richard Trophy Race, But His Priorities Are Elsewhere

Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Shares Blunt Assessment After Disappointing Loss to Islanders

Craig Berube Snapped at Leafs During an Early Timeout; Nylander Reveals What Was Said

POLL
DECEMBRE 22 \| 2236 ANSWERS Two Popular Toronto Podcasters Let Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly Have It Amid Rough Stretch Has Morgan Rielly been playing good enough for the Leafs this season?
Yes	977	43.7 %
No	1259	56.3 %
List of polls

Two Popular Toronto Podcasters Let Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly Have It Amid Rough Stretch

Morgan Rielly has not been good for the Maple Leafs this season, and two popular Toronto podcasters have really let Rielly have it over his lackluster play.

Has Morgan Rielly been playing good enough for the Leafs this season?