Salary Cap: Irrespective of playoff result, would you trade Nylander in the offseason?

[ShaneFalco]

It will all depends on the playoffs. If they go out early again, you can't roll out the same core next year. WN would be the one to get moved IMO

 

[ShaneFalco]

Tell me one thing those player give to his team and bunting dont? with wilson penalty kill more hit/suspension... and thats it.

Seriously?

 

[hotpaws]

i changed my mind , the team should trade him so he can play in peace and we can find another whipping boy

 

[firstemperor]

With the luxury of our high-end, high-skill young players, he's no longer a necessity, more of a luxury. We needed him when we needed high-end skill and our team was full of low-skill, high work ethic grinders. Now, he's kind of lost his place in this construction

His floating, lackadasical effort was always an issue but I strongly believe his fallacies ; not even remotely trying to take a hit to make a play, not willing to close out shooters or close out passing lanes, not playing the body off the puck, exiting the zone early really hurt our chances when we're now at a spot where championship contention is necessary, given our competitive window and age of our core players. This was always evident in his game, there's a difference between being evasive- looking like he's lackadaisical and strong on the puck- which Nylander is.. and simple lack of effort. I'm not convinced we might be better off with a player like say, Jared McCann than we would Nylander. I just think his play kills us on the ice, but also hurts the overall team concept of accountability with I'm not convinced Keefe has shown. The only reason I'm for keeping him is we shouldn't sell low as he's still a valuable player for us.

 

[thusk]

Simmonds can barely play 4th line minutes. Wilson plays top line minutes. Not comparable.

Not taking anything away from Bunting. He is a steal @ 900K. At $5+m I pass.

And nylander deserve his 7M? Making everybody with who hes playing worst this season and cost like a goal every 1-2 game because of a huge lack of intensity?

Right now at the same salary i prefer bunting over nylander. Nylander have more skill for sure but bunting is the one who make the leafs a better team overall. Nylander is a very good player but hes not an elite player, he's kind of phil kessel with less skill and not sure its what leaf really need right now

 

[ToneDog]

And nylander deserve his 7M? Making everybody with who hes playing worst this season and cost like a goal every 1-2 game because of a huge lack of intensity?

Right now at the same salary i prefer bunting over nylander. Nylander have more skill for sure but bunting is the one who make the leafs a better team overall. Nylander is a very good player but hes not an elite player, he's kind of phil kessel with less skill and not sure its what leaf really need right now

Doubt many here agree. I would move him yesterday if I could get close to what Nylander would fetch. I'd also move Nylander but we'll leave that for another day.

 

[therealkoho]

Unpopular opinion but depending on what Mik will sign at, if it's under 4, than see ya Will

 

[81Leafs50]

Why trade a 30 goal 70 pt player when you are all in on winning?? and for futures?

This fanbase is insane.

Nylander is a 30 goal with MINIMAL effort and the LEAFS BEST forward in the playoff last year with no-show marner on the roster.

Nylander gets bored in the dog days of the NHL just like the TBL are right now. TBL are playing like shit. they are too good and they are bored.

PLAYOFFS are all that matter and Nylander shows up when it counts.

 

[Ciao]

I would much prefer the Leafs keep Nylander, but trading him might be the best thing to do.

His high-cap low-salary contract is built to be traded. If they bonus him out, he would have two years left with no trade protection and only $2.5 million due next year and $6 million the year after that on a nearly $7-nillion cap hit. It's not for every team, but it would suit some.

If they could clear enough space, they might sign Mikheyev to replace him on the second line at a much lower cost.

Similar situation for Kerfoot. Pay his $2.75 million bonus on July 1, and then trade the last year of his $3.5 million contract with only $750,000 salary to a low- budget team. He would then have limited trade protection -- he can submit a ten-team no-trade list -- so that type of deal might not be available, though.

However, if they were both moved the $10.5 million of cap space might help the Leafs build a stronger roster without them.

Last night neither were on the top two lines, and I think it's too much to pay for bootom-six wingers.

 

[Leafs1991]

Nylander bailing on physical contact is neither true nor untrue.

I think doesn’t like being the initiator of a typical shoulder to shoulder collision as instinct but doesn’t mind fighting for body positioning or driving while someone is on him.

He’ll close on a body by stepping into them sideways with the broad side but it’s less of a hit than more of a bumper car strategy. He’s definitely also more puck focused than having any instinct to take a guy out of the play.

Is he a guy to lead your team into battle on a crazy dump and chase? Not really. Is he the foot soldier who will jump into every scrum with zeal? Hell no. But the reality is when he’s on his game that’s not really what he’s there for anyway. Ideally, he’s Phil on the Penguin cup runs.

I agree with that. However, I was disagreeing with him stating that he bails on "any" physical contact when I can clearly provide examples from the Florida came where he actively engaged with other players in a phyical manner. He's done that hundreds of times this season.

 

[ULF_55]

I think it would be good for Nylander to be moved, and I suspect he'd take on a much bigger role wherever he went.

With only on ice interpretation, my guess things are not exactly all for one and one for all in the Leafs room.

 

[Menzinger]

I don't understand where this statement comes from.

Nylander - 23 pts in 32 games
Marner - 25 pts in 32 games
Matthews - 24 pts in 32 games.

Seems to me they all produce about the same in playoffs. It's more a case of your expectations not being met, I suppose.

When it's laid out plain as day it definitely throws a wrench into the notion that he's somehow been an anchor on the teams success. Or that moving him will make the team better.

The teams #1 problem in the post season has not been scoring enough goals when needed - especially in games 6-7 (or 4-5 in 2020). Flipping Nylander for a goalie or D man doesn't fix that problem

 

[Menzinger]

It's not about production for Nylander detractors. It's about intangibles. Never seen anyone ever make a compelling argument that Nylander is a plus in that regard because nobody can. He's a minus in that area. Who rallies around the fighting spirit of 88? Nobody.

So, you get a debate between people who solely love production vs. those who think the little things matter. It all matters to me, but I understand why those who only think about production think the way they do. Kind of like a corporation that only thinks about profit at the expense of everything else by justifying it as the only thing that matters is the bottom line.

Though outside of a small handful of guys on the team with proven playoff experience (Muzzin). Nobody else, especially in the core, has demonstrated those intangible factors when needed while wearing a blue and white jersey.

So I don't necessarily understand focusing on Nylander with regard to this issue

 

[Stephen]

I think it would be good for Nylander to be moved, and I suspect he'd take on a much bigger role wherever he went.

With only on ice interpretation, my guess things are not exactly all for one and one for all in the Leafs room.

The Leaf team seems like a friendly bunch in general but I would suspect Nylander and Tavares have no chemistry in part because both of them are admiring their former linemates from afar. They just don't seem to embrace their identity as the second unit and play like and feel like the overlooked leftovers.

 

[DarkKnight]

.

Nylander is a 30 goal with MINIMAL effort

So you’re saying hes lazy, since that’s his pace? Hmmm. Odd all caps when you think that through.

 

[Tak7]

CJ on Overdrive: "No matter what happens in these playoffs, I think one of the Leafs core 4 forwards will be traded in the summer"

Matthews & Marner are too good to be traded, and Tavares as a full NMC. The 3 of them also make big money, making it hard for other teams to fit them in.

That really leaves Nylander. Whether it's a good trade or not depends entirely on the return. I would hate to see Willy go, but I can totally understand if the organization has rethought the way it needs to operate under a flat cap.

 

[SprDaVE]

CJ on Overdrive: "No matter what happens in these playoffs, I think one of the Leafs core 4 forwards will be traded in the summer"

Matthews & Marner are too good to be traded, and Tavares as a full NMC. The 3 of them also make big money, making it hard for other teams to fit them in.

That really leaves Nylander. Whether it's a good trade or not depends entirely on the return. I would hate to see Willy go, but I can totally understand if the organization has rethought the way it needs to operate under a flat cap.

They said the same thing last year, before and after the playoffs. CJ included. I'm not saying it's impossible but a lot of things can happen between now and when the floodgates open for trades again.

I don't think they need to trade Nylander at all for cap purposes, at least not this off-season. So unless there's a trade where it makes perfect sense, I don't see why the Leafs need to do this regardless of how they perform.

 

[Stephen]

CJ on Overdrive: "No matter what happens in these playoffs, I think one of the Leafs core 4 forwards will be traded in the summer"

Matthews & Marner are too good to be traded, and Tavares as a full NMC. The 3 of them also make big money, making it hard for other teams to fit them in.

That really leaves Nylander. Whether it's a good trade or not depends entirely on the return. I would hate to see Willy go, but I can totally understand if the organization has rethought the way it needs to operate under a flat cap.

That is quite the change in organizational philosophy if true. If it is Nylander, I would hope there's a wider restructuring which includes a Muzzin disposal, moving off Kerfoot and Mrazek as well. And they can rework the upper middle class comprehensively.

 

[Stephen]

They said the same thing last year, before and after the playoffs. CJ included. I'm not saying it's impossible but a lot of things can happen between now and when the floodgates open for trades again.

I don't think they need to trade Nylander at all for cap purposes, at least not this off-season. So unless there's a trade where it makes perfect sense, I don't see why the Leafs need to do this regardless of how they perform.

Really? I thought they were quite steadfast in believing in the core group.

 

[SprDaVE]

Really? I thought they were quite steadfast in believing in the core group.

I remember CJ specifically was saying the Leafs would make big changes after they were eliminated... and they never happened. Once Dubas came out around the draft and said they believed in the group, etc etc etc, that's when the rumors died down.

Either way, the idea that Nylander needs to be traded for cap reasons is false. But if the Leafs flunk out early or look awful to close out the season, it might be something that happens.

 

[ITM]

Our statistically best playoff performer (over the last two playoffs) is the ONLY name mentioned in the title of a thread asking to disregard the very measure by which our fanbase has repeatedly shouted matters most; Can we pause a moment and take our schizophrenic pulse?

We often measure value by one pivotal turn. If Nylander alone pushes us through to the second round - that ever elusive goal (literally and figuratively) - what type of clout does he deserve in the sum of all possible scenarios in that instance?

 

[riffle]

Though outside of a small handful of guys on the team with proven playoff experience (Muzzin). Nobody else, especially in the core, has demonstrated those intangible factors when needed while wearing a blue and white jersey.

So I don't necessarily understand focusing on Nylander with regard to this issue

This is an outstanding reply. Initially, it really hit me hard. You are absolutely correct.

In thinking about it, I think the difference is that while most of the guys don't demonstrate them as you noted, Nylander is nearly completely bereft of them at all times. So, when you see some guys not as passionate as you'd hope, they look better juxtaposed with someone who doesn't appear to care at all, ever. It's all relative.

Now, pair that with the fact he has incredible physical gifts where if he just applied himself he would truly be special where the others guys don't, it just draws the ire of many in the fanbase who know what he could be but chooses not to be.

We all know someone in our lives, heck, it may even be us who've been able to skate through life based on factors that shouldn't have allowed us to do so. Others may have to work 3x as hard to get half the benefits that are just naturally imputed to us. That is frustrating to see happen. Throw in the contract issue which is now muted due to Marner and Matthews, and you have what we have.

The same things I feel now about Nylander I once felt about Matthews a few years ago and even Marner, somewhat, even now. Something's missing in this team and Nylander is the poster child for it.

 

[ULF_55]

Last year when marner and Matthews no showed is very similar to games like Montreal.

And the 2nd. line without Tavares played well.

Trouble is Tavares has to get the minutes.

Catch 22, there are better options but two lines can't both be 2nd. lines.

 

[ITM]

The Leaf team seems like a friendly bunch in general but I would suspect Nylander and Tavares have no chemistry in part because both of them are admiring their former linemates from afar. They just don't seem to embrace their identity as the second unit and play like and feel like the overlooked leftovers.

There's certainly some truth to that.

The Wings of the late 90s would be a great object lesson in demystifying the perceived value of one line over another to that apparent detriment.

It's still a young foundation. Time to learn those lessons. The sooner the better.

 

[Stephen]

There's certainly some truth to that.

The Wings of the late 90s would be a great object lesson in demystifying the perceived value of one line over another to that apparent detriment.

It's still a young foundation. Time to learn those lessons. The sooner the better.

I'm actually not so sure about the Red Wings being a great object lesson for that. If anything, the stagnation of a Sergei Fedorov in his 1A/2 role behind Yzerman was interesting to follow. The team was wildly successful but Fedorov had a real hard time recapturing that 1994 personal best which seemed like a runway for greater and greater things. Could probably make a similar point about Malkin/Crosby for that matter.