Morgan Rielly Receives Surprising Defensive Ranking Following Disappointing Season

Morgan Rielly did not have the best campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, as he was only able to manage 41 points in 82 games.

The previous season, Rielly had 58 points in 72 games. Meanwhile, a few seasons ago, he was able to deliver 70 points, which just goes to show how much he has fallen off.

Overall, Rielly is still the best defenseman on the Maple Leafs, although some fans believe Chris Tanev is starting to surpass him in impact.

Having said all that, Bleacher Report recently delivered a Top 32 list of every single team's best defenseman. To make this ranking, they determined the best defenseman on every team and then promptly ranked them.

Of course, the Colorado Avalanche were ranked number one with Cale Makar. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks were number two with Quinn Hughes.

However, Morgan Rielly and the Toronto Maple Leafs were ranked 22nd overall. Some will find this surprising. Others will see it as appropriate.

While the Maple Leafs' defensive core as a whole is quite solid, there is no doubt that they are missing quite a bit of offense right now.

If the Leafs really want to prove that they are one of the best teams in the NHL, they are going to have to do something about their lack of offense from the blue line.

This is something the Leafs struggled with mightily last year, and it severely limited them and the power play once the postseason came around.

Hopefully, Morgan Rielly is able to have a bounce-back year where he can prove all of the haters wrong.