13 years later, how does Morgan Rielly compare to the rest of the 2012 NHL Draft class?

   

If you’re not looking for a reason to feel old, stop reading now. It’s been 13 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Morgan Rielly, the current longest-serving member of the team. Rielly was the fifth overall selection of the 2012 NHL Draft, and at the time, then-general manager Brian Burke made headlines for saying that he believed Rielly was the best player in the draft class. Well, for all of the times Burke whiffed on a take, this was one that carries some merit all this time later.

13 years later, how does Morgan Rielly compare to the rest of the 2012 NHL Draft class?

Save for a couple of later-round gems in the 2012 draft class, Rielly, if nothing else, is hands down the best player of the top-5 of that draft, which is a rarity when evaluating past draft classes. Let’s have a look at who went around him and what the rest of the class shaped up to be. For similar breakdowns of the draft classes that produced Auston Matthews and William Nylander, click the respective links.

Morgan Rielly – The best player in the draft?

Well, no. With the presence of players like forward Filip Forsberg and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in the first round, and players like defenceman Jaccob Slavin, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, and defenceman Colton Parayko emerging in the later rounds, he’s not the best player. But it’s hard to make fun of Burke for saying so, because there’s a legitimate argument to be made that he was the best defenceman drafted in the first round, and this much time later, if you can get 800 games out of your first-round pick, you’re probably feeling pretty good about how you made out. And in this case, the Leafs are much happier than the four teams who picked before them.

Kicking things off were the Edmonton Oilers with the selection of Nail Yakupov first overall. Yakupov had an excellent rookie season and then his production completely fell off, which may have been a nudge from the hockey gods to get their things in order considering that was their third first overall pick in three years (just don’t look up where they picked in 2015 and who they used that pick on). Yakupov spent three more years with Edmonton after the 2012-13 season, before playing half a season with the St. Louis Blues and one with the Colorado Avalanche. He’s been in Russia since then and is reportedly working on a music career.

Second overall saw the Columbus Blue Jackets select defenceman Ryan Murray, whose career was plagued by injuries from the beginning. He only played one full NHL season, which was in 2015-16, and he’s been an unrestricted free agent since 2022-23 after short stints with the New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, and Edmonton Oilers.

At third overall, Alex Galchenyuk went to the Montreal Canadiens. Although it didn’t work out for him in Montreal, at least the Canadiens were able to salvage a couple of productive seasons including a 30-goal campaign from the dual American-Russian in 2015-16. He played for six teams after the Canadiens traded him in 2017-18, including the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020-21, and he’s been playing in Russia since 2023-24.

The New York Islanders then took to the podium and selected defenceman Griffin Reinhart fourth overall, which was the biggest whiff of all of them. Reinhart only played eight games for the Islanders before they traded him to the Edmonton Oilers at the 2016 NHL Draft, a trade that would land them a first round pick that turned into Mathew Barzal. In other words, highway robbery.

 

Other names of note in the first round include Hampus Lindholm to the Anaheim Ducks at sixth overall, Mathew Dumba to the Minnesota Wild at seventh, Tom Wilson to the Washington Capitals at 16th, Tomas Hertl to the San Jose Sharks at 17th, and Teuvo Teravainen to the Chicago Blackhawks at 18th. Among the bigger whiffs in the first round include Derrick Pouliot to the Pittsburgh Penguins at eighth overall, Slater Koekkoek to the Tampa Bay Lightning at tenth, Jordan Schmaltz to the St. Louis Blues at 25th, and Henrik Samuelsson to the Phoenix Coyotes at 27th.

Conclusion

Morgan Rielly takes a lot of heat from the fanbase, and sometimes it’s warranted. His defensive game isn’t great and his offensive game has bursts but has proven to be inconsistent on a season-by-season basis. On the other hand, he’s been a true pro his entire time in Toronto, he loves being a Leaf arguably more than any other player, and he’s been a playoff hero for a team that desperately needs them. Say what you want about Rielly, but with 513 points across 873 games, it’s safe to say the Leafs are happy with the player they got at fifth overall.