I agree, don't ask him to be a top-pairing guy. He was never that and should never have been expected to be that. He's always been the best available through no fault of his own. Bump him down the depth charts, and he will be fine.
Leafs Acquired Raddysh [8 years, $8.5mil AAV]
- Thread starter Kaberle15
- Start date
At some of our ages, we may not see the end of the deal.
Rielly-Carlo could easily be our "bottom" pairing this season with Raddysh, McCabe, Tanev, and OEL above them.
herman
Well-known member
The points are gravy (which is what the cap $$$ is largely for), but the key and pretty repeatable skillset here is the Retrieval and Exit (with control) ability, which is what this Leafs team needs to activate the scoring potential from everyone not named William Nylander.
dappleganger
Well-known member
I'm thinking Rielly being the 'lesser' player on his pairing. They've never tried that before. Less minutes, less pp time.
He doesn't have to be "The Man" and gets to play with a good player (also something they're rarely done in Rielly's time as a Leaf).
Arn
Well-known member
It’s a fair point. After the success of last year, especially the production level of our formerly elite centre, why would the Leafs be looking to change their offensive structure?
L K
Well-known member
The fancy stats suggested Raddysh was good. I do think it's hard to replicate the Tampa PP results without Kucherov.... but we also have an interesting collection of guys and are now adding Raddysh. We get a hopefully healthy Tanev back and then add McKenna to the mix up front.
I get that this whole thing might blow up in our faces but the moves so far clearly suggest we are going to actually be able to move the puck out of the defensive Zone.
I'm genuinely excited for October
Do the Leafs need to adapt to taking shots from the point? They passed to Rielly at the point all the time. He would just never shoot. Obviously you don't rely on tipping 90 MPH shots but the Leads have Tavares and Knies who both spend time net front. Hard shots go in the net but also generate rebounds and Tavares has always been an elite in tight finisher.
I get that this whole thing might blow up in our faces but the moves so far clearly suggest we are going to actually be able to move the puck out of the defensive Zone.
I'm genuinely excited for October
herman
Well-known member
There's almost no change needed from the previous 5F formation
Raddysh
Nylander - Tavares - Matthews
Knies
Lefty (Matthews) to Raddysh pass from the R half wall is open. (see clips from above)
He can be the hinge pass from R wall to L wall one timer (Willy), or bump to left shot Bumper for a quick tap out to L wall (Matthews) one timer. Bumper could also play catch with L wall (away from the net) and Willy can feed backdoor tap ins for Knies or Mogilny specials for Matthews, or tee up Raddysh for crossbody slappers.
Raddysh's shot will be respected now, and he'll either blast through it, or it opens up more space down low for the other 4 to operate.
They could easily convert to strongside half walls as well with Raddysh slipping passes down to Willy on the R wall to either shoot or feed OTs from the bumper, JvR style plays at the net front, or back up to Raddysh bombs.
If Knies is traded, put Joshua at the net front.
Bill_Berg
Well-known member
Bite your tongue!
If they didn't make any other moves, the Leafs defense is better just because they don't have a guy like Benoit in the lineup on a nightly basis. At this point, they also won't need to have a guy like Myers in the lineup on an injury basis. If the 7th and 8th dman were Villeneuve and Danford, that's a good look top 8, provided Villeneuve and Danford prove they can handle the NHL. There is still guys like Thrun and Rifai on the Marlies.
dappleganger
Well-known member
The Leafs currently have 6 good NHL defensemen on the roster.
I can't remember the last time we could say that.
That is roughly what I saw when I looked a week or two ago. He is not a one season wonder.
Hedman got hurt and he went nuts with the opportunity last year.
The money and term is crazy for his track record but with all the teams having cap money and so few UFA dmen on the market, the law of supply and demand kicks in.
MLSE board said they want to retool so their GM is doing as his owners asked of him.
I would keep Rielly - put him with Tanev to help defensively.
When have the Leafs had 3 lefties and 3 righties in their top 6 dmen?
Rielly has played with a lefty about 8 of his last 10 seasons.
That arrangement alone might help them move the puck faster.