Bill the Thrill: Nylander appreciation thread

[21]

What happened to his brother anyway?

I thought Alexander would become the better player of the two but I was completely wrong, damaging my reputation. LoL

Alexander was such a natural sniper when young oozing of self confidence but then something went wrong I guess, also I thought he was looking a bit bigger/stronger comparing to William (at a young age).

 

[Notsince67]

I remember a specific poster who bashed Nylander for getting only 27 points in the 2018-19 season, because in the first year of his new contract he made $10.2 million AAV to make up for the games he missed.

Even at 7mm, that first year was a bust from a pts per game perspective. Let's not go back to that one to make excuses. Pretty sure Willy would like to forget it too.

 

[ACC1224]

I remember a specific poster who bashed Nylander for getting only 27 points in the 2018-19 season, because in the first year of his new contract he made $10.2 million AAV to make up for the games he missed.

He deserved every bit of criticism he received that first year.

 

[21]

Even at 7mm, that first year was a bust from a pts per game perspective. Let's not go back to that one to make excuses. Pretty sure Willy would like to forget it too.

William seem to be a sensitive guy (mentally) and a bit streaky but hopefully more mature and less streaky now. Also you have to give the most talanted players the environment (and linemates) to succeed and Maple Leafs are now doing this. Finally, his father, I'm not sure how much he interfere with his carreer, this could potentially be both good and bad.... Seriously though, playing for Toronto Maple Leafs is huge and I'm pretty sure William is feeling great right now. Taking more money and leaving would be pathetic (unless it is Colorado Avalanche).

 

[notDatsyuk]

To me the most impressive thing is his ability to slow the game down for a moment, which is something very few players can do.

 

[Oscar Peterson]

What happened to his brother anyway?

I thought Alexander would become the better player of the two but I was completely wrong, damaging my reputation. LoL

Alexander was such a natural sniper when young oozing of self confidence but then something went wrong I guess, also I thought he was looking a bit bigger/stronger comparing to William (at a young age).

I went to a bunch of Steelheads games in Alex Nylander’s draft year, I thought he would have had a much better career than he does but his skating was never on William’s level in terms of both speed and agility. And his shot was just about as good, definitely not better. A lot of problem’s in William’s early game were worse in Alex too, like not moving his feet in the D zone and having trouble breaking up the cycle, tended to cherry pick as well. He was taller than William but skated kind of upright, didn’t have the strongest center of gravity.

That being said he was super creative when he got the puck, would make a lot of amazing passes and could beat goalies with a lot of deception before his release. Will is my favourite player and I was kind of hoping we could unit the brothers but I wasn’t at all expecting Alex to go 8th overall. It was funny seeing him on the same team as Michael McLeod, McLeod was always the most noticeable player on the team but had zero offensive IQ and finish, Nylander would kind of float around and be useless most of the game but then as soon as he got a break the puck tended to end up in the net.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Even at 7mm, that first year was a bust from a pts per game perspective. Let's not go back to that one to make excuses. Pretty sure Willy would like to forget it too.

He deserved every bit of criticism he received that first year.

I agree 100% that Nylander deserved that criticism for his play that season since his first game wasn't until December 6, 2018.

That doesn't mean any Leafs fans were wrong when they said his contract will look like a bargain, even though those same Leafs haters were saying Nylander got overpaid and Kyle Dubas caved to his demands, despite Nylander being on record about having his agent call Dubas 40 minutes before the deadline to get a contract done.

 

[leafsfan5]

William seem to be a sensitive guy (mentally) and a bit streaky but hopefully more mature and less streaky now. Also you have to give the most talanted players the environment (and linemates) to succeed and Maple Leafs are now doing this. Finally, his father, I'm not sure how much he interfere with his carreer, this could potentially be both good and bad.... Seriously though, playing for Toronto Maple Leafs is huge and I'm pretty sure William is feeling great right now. Taking more money and leaving would be pathetic (unless it is Colorado Avalanche).

I don't think he's sensitive tbh

He's taken the most heat out of anyone of the big 4 from the media and seems to be the only top player who will get demoted a lot. In spite of that, he takes it on the chin and keeps producing, especially come playoff time

 

[ACC1224]

I agree 100% that Nylander deserved that criticism for his play that season since his first game wasn't until December 6, 2018.

That doesn't mean any Leafs fans were wrong when they said his contract will look like a bargain, even though those same Leafs haters were saying Nylander got overpaid and Kyle Dubas caved to his demands, despite Nylander being on record about having his agent call Dubas 40 minutes before the deadline to get a contract done.

Dubas did cave but that's in the past and really has nothing to do with his contract being a "bargain" or not.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Dubas did cave but that's in the past and really has nothing to do with his contract being a "bargain" or not.

I guess we have a different defenition of caving. It was Nylander who told his agent to call Dubas and get a deal done before 5:00 PM EST on December 1. If Dubas had called Nylander then you can say he caved to him.

With deal finally done, Nylander, Dubas breathe sighs of relief - TSN.ca

It was a relief to finally get William Nylander signed and back in Toronto, both for the 22-year-old and general manager Kyle Dubas, TSN Maple Leafs reporter Kristen Shilton writes.

www.tsn.ca

That’s not to say Nylander and Dubas both didn’t have their doubts whether or not the new contract would come together in time. To be eligible to play this season, the Leafs had to file Nylander’s signed contract with the NHL’s Central Registry by 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. It wasn’t until 4:30 p.m. that day Nylander made the call that would swing negotiations in the right direction.

 

[ACC1224]

I guess we have a different defenition of caving. It was Nylander who told his agent to call Dubas and get a deal done before 5:00 PM EST on December 1. If Dubas had called Nylander then you can say he caved to him.

With deal finally done, Nylander, Dubas breathe sighs of relief - TSN.ca

It was a relief to finally get William Nylander signed and back in Toronto, both for the 22-year-old and general manager Kyle Dubas, TSN Maple Leafs reporter Kristen Shilton writes.

www.tsn.ca

That’s not to say Nylander and Dubas both didn’t have their doubts whether or not the new contract would come together in time. To be eligible to play this season, the Leafs had to file Nylander’s signed contract with the NHL’s Central Registry by 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. It wasn’t until 4:30 p.m. that day Nylander made the call that would swing negotiations in the right direction.

Who called who is irrelevant, IMO and I believe Dubas would have reached out before the deadline anyway.(and would be disappointed if he hadn't)
This has been beaten to death, alarms are ringing down at the D.D.L. and the troops will be along any minute.

 

[Notsince67]

Who called who is irrelevant, IMO and I believe Dubas would have reached out before the deadline anyway.(and would be disappointed if he hadn't)
This has been beaten to death, alarms are ringing down at the D.D.L. and the troops will be along any minute.

Yup. Might as well yell out "send in the clowns" when the topic of Salary cap and bargains are broached. Proximity sensors activated...entry in 3, 2, 1....

 

[Dekes For Days]

I guess we have a different defenition of caving. It was Nylander who told his agent to call Dubas and get a deal done before 5:00 PM EST on December 1.

Yeah, everybody knows that Nylander is the one who caved. That's been well-established for a long time.

 

[LeafsNation75]

 

[Antropovsky]

I don't think he's sensitive tbh

He's taken the most heat out of anyone of the big 4 from the media and seems to be the only top player who will get demoted a lot. In spite of that, he takes it on the chin and keeps producing, especially come playoff time

Agreed... Nylander seems very unaffected by criticism and his confidence in himself never seems to break.

 

[Aashir]

Tbh, nylander having that bust of a year 2018-2019 probably is the catalyst to his jump in play and production

I remember him saying in the summer of 2019 that he wanted to dominate and be a star following his poor performance the season before. He started going to the net, parking there, looking for rebounds and junk goals.

Had he not had that terrible year and faced the backlash he did, he might still be sniping glove side high and missing 5 feet wide

Thats all for my conspiracy theory

 

[ULF_55]

A huge point tonight on the tying goal.

He is so good along the boards. More often than not, he wins those board battles for the puck.

 

[notDatsyuk]

A huge point tonight on the tying goal.

He is so good along the boards. More often than not, he wins those board battles for the puck.

I watched that play six times before I saw that he didn't pass it to Gio, but shot.

 

[saffronleaf]

28 goals, 31 assists in 51 games

45 goal, 50 assists pace now

 

[Stephen]

William seem to be a sensitive guy (mentally) and a bit streaky but hopefully more mature and less streaky now. Also you have to give the most talanted players the environment (and linemates) to succeed and Maple Leafs are now doing this. Finally, his father, I'm not sure how much he interfere with his carreer, this could potentially be both good and bad.... Seriously though, playing for Toronto Maple Leafs is huge and I'm pretty sure William is feeling great right now. Taking more money and leaving would be pathetic (unless it is Colorado Avalanche).

Willie doesn't come across as very sensitive. Always appears to be cool, calm, relaxed and very confident in his abilities and unflappable.

 

[Stephen]

Tbh, nylander having that bust of a year 2018-2019 probably is the catalyst to his jump in play and production

I remember him saying in the summer of 2019 that he wanted to dominate and be a star following his poor performance the season before. He started going to the net, parking there, looking for rebounds and junk goals.

Had he not had that terrible year and faced the backlash he did, he might still be sniping glove side high and missing 5 feet wide

Thats all for my conspiracy theory

Just looking at his natural abilities, it always seemed like underachieved relative to Matthews and Marner in terms of ease of producing points. Now it seems like he's fully caught up.

 

[ZEBROA]

I hope he gets 30 goals taken care of relativly quick so it dont becomes a problem.

 

[horner]

If this is the Nylander we are going to get for the next 8 yrs then 10.5 mil then sign me up.

I hope Mathews then Marner want a cup more than breaking the bank.

Boston Pasta's contract is up.first top a 5 player in the league. I think he will give Boston a discount 10.5 * 8.

If Mathews wants 15 Miil what would you do.
Willy is scoring at the same pace now ( I don't want to lose him because of Mathews )

 

[MAB1]

Just looking at his natural abilities, it always seemed like underachieved relative to Matthews and Marner in terms of ease of producing points. Now it seems like he's fully caught up.

This, in terms of pure talent and athleticism, Nylander's probably 2nd on the Leafs to Matthews.

Marner has higher hockey IQ and probably better edge-work but he can produce points even when you don't notice him. They'll need all 3 at their best to go all the way in the playoffs.

 

[ULF_55]

This year Nylander seems to be picking up some right time right place goals.

Like, the 5 way passing play goal, which it looked like he wasn't even trying to score yesterday.