Last year, the Toronto Maple Leafs top pairing consisted of Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey.
Together Hainsey and Rielly posted 49.57% of the shot-attempts, 47.84% of the shots, 50.58% of the scoring chances and 58.82% of the goals.
When paired with anyone else, Rielly posted 55.41% of the shot-attempts, 51.85% of the shots, 56.95% of the scoring chances, and 60.94% of the goals. (naturalstattrick.com).
It is indisputable that Rielly was held back by Ron Hainsey. Using all of the way that we have to measure an NHL player’s performance, we know – with certainty – that Rielly will improve with a better partner.