C William Nylander (2014, 8th, TOR) IX

[Nithoniniel]

I think we deserve the right to be as optimistic as possible. We have had to listen to endless posters come in hear and criticize Nylander in every way possible, from being too small, being too soft, putting up invisible points.... For months we've had to listen to Nylander being compared to Reinhart, to Draisaitl, to Rantanen, to Larkin, to Ehlers.... The kid has impressed like he has in every league he's played in. If people want to think of him as a potential franchise player, I'd say its fair for them to do so.

Hey I think he is a potential franchise player as well, even though I wouldn't say it was likely. It's just never a good thing to close your eyes to the flaws of the player. It should just be accepted as part of them (for now).

Unless you're a generational player, you're going to have flaws as a 19-year old.

 

[Bravid Nonahan]

Hey I think he is a potential franchise player as well, even though I wouldn't say it was likely. It's just never a good thing to close your eyes to the flaws of the player. It should just be accepted as part of them (for now).

Unless you're a generational player, you're going to have flaws as a 19-year old.

They have flaws too...

And just because someone is excited about a prospect doesn't mean they're ignoring their flaws. People have a right to be excited

 

[one77]

Can't wait to have Laine on Willy's wing.

JVR - Stamkos - Marner
Laine - Nylander - Kapanen
Komarov - Kadri/Bozak - Brown
Hyman - Gauthier - Soshnikov

 

[Kadri43*]

I think we deserve the right to be as optimistic as possible. We have had to listen to endless posters come in hear and criticize Nylander in every way possible, from being too small, being too soft, putting up invisible points.... For months we've had to listen to Nylander being compared to Reinhart, to Draisaitl, to Rantanen, to Larkin, to Ehlers.... The kid has impressed like he has in every league he's played in. If people want to think of him as a potential franchise player, I'd say its fair for them to do so.

I understand your frustration. Nylander obviously has more offensive potential than a couple of those listed players. But other posters, and other fans in general, are quick to criticize Nylander because of the over-the-top projections such as 'he will be a 80-100 point player next year'. That projections likely puts him in the top 6 offensive players in the world next year. He isn't going to be that player next year. However, I would be amazed if he didn't put up PPG in his prime.

 

[WHLfollower]

I think we deserve the right to be as optimistic as possible. We have had to listen to endless posters come in hear and criticize Nylander in every way possible, from being too small, being too soft, putting up invisible points.... For months we've had to listen to Nylander being compared to Reinhart, to Draisaitl, to Rantanen, to Larkin, to Ehlers.... The kid has impressed like he has in every league he's played in. If people want to think of him as a potential franchise player, I'd say its fair for them to do so.

You forgot he's a Leaf and drafted by Nonis which equals garbage. You need be a 1st overall to be a legit 1C, if not your a garbage center. He's not as good as so and so equals garbage. Haters gonna hate, on the internet gonna be some trolls, to troll the furoms. I'm just excited to watch the Leafs as of late, the kids are playing amazing especially Nylander. Yes his defensive part of his game is bad but no where as bad as people think it is, just growing pains. His drive to win will make him better. At worse he becomes a winger that can play center.

 

[Stats01]

You forgot he's a Leaf and drafted by Nonis which equals garbage. You need be a 1st overall to be a legit 1C, if not your a garbage center. He's not as good as so and so equals garbage. Haters gonna hate, on the internet gonna be some trolls, to troll the furoms. I'm just excited to watch the Leafs as of late, the kids are playing amazing especially Nylander. Yes his defensive part of his game is bad but no where as bad as people think it is, just growing pains. His drive to win will make him better. At worse he becomes a winger that can play center.

Nylander's defensive isn't bad it just needs to get better, he needs to get bigger so he can win board battles
...want to know who has a bad defensive game...go check out Eberle.

 

[Shwaguy*]

I don't want Willy to get TOO much bigger.

He's already like 5'11 190. Don't want him losing his speed.

 

[Kadri43*]

Nylander's defensive isn't bad it just needs to get better, he needs to get bigger so he can win board battles
...want to know who has a bad defensive game...go check out Eberle.

Bad implies the existence of a defensive game. Eberle's doesn't have a defensive game.

 

[WilliamNylander]

55% CF and 53.8% GF at 5 on 5 but he's "bad defensively" now.

When will people just enjoy how great the kid has been without trying to make **** up to drive their narratives? He's just fine defensively as a 19 year old rooking playing center in the NHL.

If I HAD to complain about something I would say he's kind of passive at times when he could be pushing the play more but I think that's just something that comes with time and experience. He's been fine defensively and Babcock knows it too having him take a d-zone shift late in the third against Giroux last night.

 

[Nithoniniel]

They have flaws too...

And just because someone is excited about a prospect doesn't mean they're ignoring their flaws. People have a right to be excited

I know. I'm excited. I've said that people should be excited. However, there was plenty of hyperbole about his defensive game in the last thread, and posters who reacted very defensively when someone mentioned said flaws.

Follow the discussion and you'll see that I got told that I'm going to look like a ridiculous hater next season, just because I mentioned that Nylander is not our best two-way center and needs to continue to improve in that area. That general sentiment was what was addressed in my post.

 

[dubey]

55% CF and 53.8% GF at 5 on 5 but he's "bad defensively" now.

When will people just enjoy how great the kid has been without trying to make **** up to drive their narratives? He's just fine defensively as a 19 year old rooking playing center in the NHL.

Gotta get the shots in now before he's one of the best in the league

 

[KGL]

55% CF and 53.8% GF at 5 on 5 but he's "bad defensively" now.

When will people just enjoy how great the kid has been without trying to make **** up to drive their narratives? He's just fine defensively as a 19 year old rooking playing center in the NHL.

If I HAD to complain about something I would say he's kind of passive at times when he could be pushing the play more but I think that's just something that comes with time and experience. He's been fine defensively and Babcock knows it too having him take a d-zone shift late in the third against Giroux last night.

In a top 6 role no less. Last night Babs had him out on a defensive zone faceoff against Giroux with only a few minutes left and the Leafs up by 1. That's trust. Would Babs do that if Willie was bad defensively? Absolutely not.

 

[Duke Silver]

I understand your frustration. Nylander obviously has more offensive potential than a couple of those listed players. But other posters, and other fans in general, are quick to criticize Nylander because of the over-the-top projections such as 'he will be a 80-100 point player next year'. That projections likely puts him in the top 6 offensive players in the world next year. He isn't going to be that player next year. However, I would be amazed if he didn't put up PPG in his prime.

Who the hell said that?!

 

[Jmo89]

Who the hell said that?!

One poster has said it. Nith quoted him earlier. Now it's being used as the base line (when its the extreme) of being too excited.

I'm happy with his quarter season. Excited to see him next year. Hopefully with sosh, Hyman, and Carrick (not Sam.)

 

[WTFMAN99]

Pretty nice 3 point game, too bad it came at the worst possible time.

 

[WilliamNylander]

In a top 6 role no less. Last night Babs had him out on a defensive zone faceoff against Giroux with only a few minutes left and the Leafs up by 1. That's trust. Would Babs do that if Willie was bad defensively? Absolutely not.

Completely agree.

He makes mistakes sometimes but I think its unfair to call him bad defensively.

 

[Raging Bull]

But other posters, and other fans in general, are quick to criticize Nylander because of the over-the-top projections such as 'he will be a 80-100 point player next year'. That projections likely puts him in the top 6 offensive players in the world next year. He isn't going to be that player next year. However, I would be amazed if he didn't put up PPG in his prime.

That's their fault for biting and not recognizing baiting when they see it.

 

[Jmo89]

Completely agree.

He makes mistakes sometimes but I think its unfair to call him bad defensively.

I think sometimes people confuse bad defensively with underdeveloped defensively. Nylander has alot left to develop (like any 19yo) but that doesn't make him bad. Same can be said offensively too.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I think sometimes people confuse bad defensively with underdeveloped defensively. Nylander has alot left to develop (like any 19yo) but that doesn't make him bad. Same can be said offensively too.

He's pretty average for a 19 year old centre on a last place team. I think what has been surprising so far is the proficiency at face-offs, that's something that usually comes with experience, he'll only pick up more tricks over the years.

 

[Nithoniniel]

In a top 6 role no less. Last night Babs had him out on a defensive zone faceoff against Giroux with only a few minutes left and the Leafs up by 1. That's trust. Would Babs do that if Willie was bad defensively? Absolutely not.

Would Babs call him out about needing to be better defensively if there wasn't warts in his game in that area?

Babcock is working with him. He gets him practicing at his defense, watch videos of the game situations and goes through them with him, and then puts him out there in situations to do better. It's terrific, but he's not trying to develop his defensive game for no real reason. He does it because that's one area of his game that could really stand some development.

I've pretty much done nothing but praise William since we drafted him and for very good reason, but some of the responses I've got to this topic makes it seem like a portion of the fanbase are unable to critically evaluate players they are emotionally attached to.

It's not an attack on the player to say he's not perfect. I'm not sure why some gets so defensive over this.

 

[KGL]

Would Babs call him out about needing to be better defensively if there wasn't warts in his game in that area?

Babcock is working with him. He gets him practicing at his defense, watch videos of the game situations and goes through them with him, and then puts him out there in situations to do better. It's terrific, but he's not trying to develop his defensive game for no real reason.

I've pretty much done nothing but praise William since we drafted him and for very good reason, but some of the responses I've got to this topic makes it seem like a portion of the fanbase are unable to critically evaluate players they are emotionally attached to.

It's not an attack on the player to say he's not perfect. I'm not sure why some gets so defensive over this.

I didn't say he was perfect. There's still work to be done. That doesn't mean Babs can't trust him and can't put him in positions where he needs to step up defensively. Fact of the matter is that Babs still wants to win and with only a few minutes left in a close game, he had Nylander out against the other teams top line. Babs didn't say he was bad defensively either, just that there is work to be done. No on is denying that.

"but some of the responses I've got to this topic makes it seem like a portion of the fanbase are unable to critically evaluate players they are emotionally attached to." Not sure if you're referring to my post with this statement. If you are, not sure where you're getting that from.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I didn't say he was perfect. There's still work to be done. That doesn't mean Babs can't trust him and can't put him in positions where he needs to step up defensively. Fact of the matter is that Babs still wants to win and with only a few minutes left in a close game, he had Nylander out against the other teams top line. Babs didn't say he was bad defensively either, just that there is work to be done. No on is denying that.

"but some of the responses I've got to this topic makes it seem like a portion of the fanbase are unable to critically evaluate players they are emotionally attached to." Not sure if you're referring to my post with this statement. If you are, not sure where you're getting that from.

Sorry, sometimes I'm bad at pointing out when I'm talking more generally.

The last two paragraphs were not directed at you. It's just that most of this discussion was spawned from me pointing out that he could stand to improve some parts of his defensive game, as a response to Semantics opinion that Nylander is our best two-way center already. There's one opinion there that is rather extreme, and it's not that a 19-year old has stuff to work on.

 

[KGL]

Sorry, sometimes I'm bad at pointing out when I'm talking more generally.

The last two paragraphs were not directed at you. It's just that most of this discussion was spawned from me pointing out that he could stand to improve some parts of his defensive game, as a response to Semantics opinion that Nylander is our best two-way center already. There's one opinion there that is rather extreme, and it's not that a 19-year old has stuff to work on.

Ah fair enough.

I agree he has stuff to work on, as do all 19 year old players. 99% of Leafs fans would agree as well.

As for the statement that he's our best 2 way player, that's ridiculous, I've seen many statements such as this from one particular poster.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Sorry, sometimes I'm bad at pointing out when I'm talking more generally.

The last two paragraphs were not directed at you. It's just that most of this discussion was spawned from me pointing out that he could stand to improve some parts of his defensive game, as a response to Semantics opinion that Nylander is our best two-way center already. There's one opinion there that is rather extreme, and it's not that a 19-year old has stuff to work on.

Ah fair enough.

I agree he has stuff to work on, as do all 19 year old players. 99% of Leafs fans would agree as well.

As for the statement that he's our best 2 way player, that's ridiculous, I've seen many statements such as this from one particular poster.

He's good for a 19 year old centre considering his linemates and that he is on the last place team in the league. In the grand scheme of things there are things to work on.

No concerns really on my end, the willingness to learn is there.

 

[KGL]

He's good for a 19 year old centre considering his linemates and that he is on the last place team in the league. In the grand scheme of things there are things to work on.

No concerns really on my end, the willingness to learn is there.

No concerns from me either. Mistakes happen and are to be expected, what matters most is that he learns from his mistakes and becomes a better player as a result. I'm confident he will, he's smart and hard working, the end product should be a great well rounded player.