Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
That is not at all the take I am making. Some fans look to reinforce their bias. Rielly does what he does because he's one of the best in the world at it. He creates offence. He pinches and he skates hard all over the ice. Sometimes it results in a chance against. He is plus 15 on the season. He plays tough minutes and he tilts the ice in his team's favor. However, the same people will every game wait for a mistake and only see that. "That was a bad pinch and it cost us a chance against, Rielly is terrible!" Except Chuck was supposed to be the high forward covering and he blew his position. "Doesn't matter it's rielly's fault and chuck is great!". Points aren't everything, success is everything, playing your role is everything and making the team better is everything. Rielly is a huge part of this team's success.
Is the team worse without Rielly in the lineup? Yes. The main thing that I have learned about this team in the last two seasons is that they really don't need offense from their defense. They need defensemen that can defend in their own end and make simple outlet passes to forwards to start the puck up the ice. The pinching point is mute, pinching is a coaching decision, not a player's. If you give the D the green light to pinch, you need a high forward, if the pinch is unsuccessful and there is no high forward that is on the forwards. All of the Leafs D pinch 90% of the time. That is their system until they have a lead late in the game.
Rielly's defensive blunders are far deeper than pinches without proper coverage. His defensive zone coverage leaves a lot to be desired and he often has costly turnovers. While watching for defensive blunders, I am always watching for positive defensive plays. Shutting down an odd man rush, active stick through the passing lanes, taking sticks in front of the net, clearing bodies to open vision lanes for the goalie. Rielly fails to provide much value in any of these categories. The only time I ever find myself impressed with his defensive play would be a successful backcheck.
Is it super unrealistic that they move him to forward? Yes. Would he provide all of the same offensive upside and then some on forward? Yes. Would we be ridden on his defensive blunders with him at forward? Yes. Would it be fun to try? Absolutely.
Rielly is a great straight-line skater with average vision, shot and below average defensive abilities. He is a big body and hardworker, his traits would translate perfectly to another North-South forechecking/puck retrieval power forward like Hyman