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The Toronto Maple Leafs have lost captain Dion Phaneuf for two games due to suspension, a time when most would expect that a rookie like Morgan Rielly would get added opportunity for ice time.
Moreover, having already been scratched for the previous three games, tonight would certainly be a perfect chance to get Rielly back in the lineup and testing the rookie with added responsibility, right?
Wrong. Morgan Rielly is a healthy scratch tonight for the 4th consecutive game.
The 19 year old rookie is playing in his first full NHL season this year, and given how his play seemingly continues to develop game by game, many were expecting the defenseman to be a part of the Leafs backend for the entire 2013-14 NHL season. However, after tonight’s decision to sit Rielly once again, it appears that such sentiment is no longer being expressed.
“Our advice to him is to maintain his confidence as high as he can possibly. Work on the things that he does well. He’s a skater. He can move the puck effectively. He sees the play. Do those things effectively. Do them through commitment to making the hard play when you determine that’s the play you want to make. Don’t make mistakes from being soft. Move the puck effectively, briskly and as firmly as you desire. But don’t make a soft play.”
With zero goals and nine assists in 22 games played so far this year, it has been Rielly’s impressive skating abilities which enthralled the coaches and fans alike and not his “soft” play, as Carlyle put it. That said, the Leafs have been struggling in their own end of late where they have only recently ended a six game losing streak. Slowly falling in the Eastern Conference, Toronto now sits in 7th place with three points on Carolina, and one game in hand.
When it comes to assessing their play, it is no secrete that Toronto continues to struggle with their giveaways. What's more is that it appears that their somewhat youthful and inexperienced back end is causing them too many problems thus resulting in too many losses.
On that note, Toronto has recently called up veteran JM Liles from the Marlies who has been playing quite well. In his first game back with the Leafs, Liles had a strong performance logging close to 18 minutes of ice time, registering three hits, two blocked shots, and ended the night with a plus-2 against the Senators.
For me, it appears that Liles and Paul Ranger may make a better pair for the time being than did Ranger and Morgan Rielly. With Liles’ veteran experience, I noticed that Ranger was much more “invisible”, in that he made fewer errors and played a much simpler game.
Whether he altered his playing style while paired up with Rielly is uncertain, however it seems as though the veteran play of Liles may create less anxiety in their own end…despite the fact the Liles himself isn’t exactly known to be overly strong in his own end.
With that being said, it stands to reason that this blog would discuss the Leafs defense and their play, or lack thereof. Dion Phaneuf missing two games could be a gift in disguise for Toronto as the coaching staff will be provided with the opportunity to focus on and or provide other defenseman with crucial minutes typically eaten up by the captain. With that being established, I have a feeling that we will see the play of guys like Carl Gunnarsson and Cody Franson be exposed in, well, a much more negative light than a lot of fans would expect.
Let’s face it folks, these two defenseman have simply not been on top of their games much of this NHL season. Gunnarsson, a player who the Leafs felt was a strong defensive option for their future, has regressed in terms of his play. When Carl is on top of his game, he is very quiet, very strong on his feet, and is able to move the puck out of his end quickly and effectively. Of late, Gunnarsson has been guilty of taking a few bad penalties and being outskated by his opponents which at times have led to goals.
Cody Franson has also struggled with his play of late. Having a strong offensive game, Franson has yet to find the back of the net this season, despite registering 14 assists. While Franson has had many chances in terms of goals and isn’t suffering with respect to point totals, it is his play in his own end that has been poor.
Being provided with more ice time and tougher assignments, Franson’s weaknesses in his own end are becoming exposed. Furthermore, with Phaneuf out for two games and Franson likely taking on even more ice time, things may get even worse in that regard.
While I don’t mean to bash on either of these two players, the points I am trying to express is that it appears, at least to me, that a few defensemen are either not being used effectively, or should be coached to play to their skillsets - something which Carlyle appears to be waking up to of late.
“Those are areas we thought we’d have ample support, things you count on in the summer months, but it’s just not transpiring,” said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. “We have to find ways for our defence to be involved more.”
The Leafs defense have scored a total of three goals this year, Phaneuf being credited for two on his own. The style of play which is being utilized by the team so far this year is simply not working and change needs to come about. When you have a bag of lemons, there is no sense in trying to make orange juice.
As I expressed in last week’s blog, whether the changes necessary are reflected toward upgrades to personnel or changes to the systems being coached by Carlyle is left to be seen. However with Randy’s recent comments, he may have finally realized that in order for this team to find success, their defensive game needs to improve and change needs to ensue.
First up, it appears that the Leafs may have decided that it is time to start easing Morgan Rielly out of the lineup, and start working on improving the pairings which will fight with them for the remainder of the season.
There is no doubt in my mind, at this point in time, that Morgan Rielly will be a part of team Canada during the WJC (a big part might I add), and will further take the “advice” from Carlyle mentioned earlier to the juniors to work on the rest of his game.
What changes will follow remains to be a big question mark at this point in time, but when shutdown defenders like Mark Fraser aren’t shutting guys down effectively, and goal scorers like Cody Franson aren’t…well, scoring goals…change is likely needed.
While I do not necessarily feel that the Leafs need to look outside of their own organization given how well guys like Petter Granberg and Andrew MacWilliam have been doing, they may require some veteran assistance over rookies at this point in time.
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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