Still one month out from training camp, the joy of summer lists and rankings continues.
On Monday, Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz put together a ranking of every team’s top defenceman heading into the 2025-26 season. Morgan Rielly was named the Maple Leafs’ best blue liner, landing 22nd on the list overall. On Rielly, Gretz writes:
Rielly is one of the longest-tenured members of the Maple Leafs organization at this point and has been there through the rebuild, the playoff years and whatever is coming next for them.
He’s a good player, but like the rest of the Maple Leafs’ core, he has struggled to help get the team over the hump in the playoffs. He’s probably best-suited as a No. 2 defenseman on a championship-level team as opposed to the go-to-guy.
It’s hard to examine the choice of Rielly as Toronto’s best defenceman, as the article doesn’t give much reasoning here beyond him being on the team the longest, nor do they say what criteria they are using to evaluate the blue liners. Regardless, let’s give it a go.
Offensively, there’s no questioning that Rielly provides the most for the Leafs, especially as part of the team’s primary power play unit. Last season, he put up seven goals and 34 assists to finish with 41 points overall. Add to that his name recognition and leadership abilities, there’s a case to made. At the same time, defensively, you could maybe argue for the value of the likes of Jake McCabe or Chris Tanev, with their role on the penalty kill and comparatively lower contracts.
Either way, the easy conclusion here is that there isn’t one stand out on Toronto’s blue line, with so much focus put on the team’s offensive core. With that in mind, it’s not unreasonable to see that a good chunk of NHL teams have one star blue liner who outweighs what Toronto puts forth on the back end.
Ahead of Rielly in 21st place is Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, while Vince Dunn of the Seattle Kraken sits one place behind Toronto’s assistant captain. Leading the list from first to third, respectively, are the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar, Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
What do you think of B/R’s defensive rankings?