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

[Buzzman17]

Nylander is what Sundin was to Quebec when they traded him to us. As long as we get a better return, that trade among others propelled Quebec/Avs forward.

 

[Holls Blackmail]

I’d send him to Ana for Gibson. Fix two problems; fix the G position for the window and gets rid of a talented, but immensely lazy and timid player.

 

[thusk]

In a season leafs will need to choose between nylander and bunting and the choice is pretty easy to do in my mind.

So maybe its time to trade nylander away

 

[Machinae]

Bjorkstrand/Jenner for Nylander/Kerfoot is an example of using Nylanders potential value as a top line C to make this team tougher and get two guys that could compliment Tavares.

 

[pcruz]

In a season leafs will need to choose between nylander and bunting and the choice is pretty easy to do in my mind.

So maybe its time to trade nylander away

Despite my last post here, and the vote of "yes they should consider trading Nylander", it's still a move that makes you really apprehensive.

There are 2 players that I would much prefer to deal away at this point - Kerfoot and Engvall.
For large swaths of the game, those 2 have absolutely no clue what they're doing and contribute next to nothing.

 

[NinjaKick]

hell no

 

[Fogelhund]

Is Keefe’s criticism of Nylander warranted? - TSN.ca

Sheldon Keefe was blunt in Saturday’s post-game assessment of William Nylander’s game of-late. Is it deserved compared to, say, the Leafs’ goaltending?

www.tsn.ca

 

[1specter]

I can't believe people here are actually voting yes as a favourite option lol. At least see what he does in the playoffs for f***s sake

 

[mighty Stanley Duck]

I can't believe people here are actually voting yes as a favourite option lol. At least see what he does in the playoffs for f***s sake

Nylander 20/21 playoffs are getting mythological status. So many times i read about it. Someone would think he had 14 pts in 7 games. All in all he has decent PO numbers...why are people so high on his PO numbers?

 

[Gary Nylund]

Nylander 20/21 playoffs are getting mythological status. So many times i read about it. Someone would think he had 14 pts in 7 games. All in all he has decent PO numbers...why are people so high on his PO numbers?

Seriously?

 

[Stinger8]

Premature. He was out best player last playoffs.

So what??? Thats history.

 

[riffle]

Nylander 20/21 playoffs are getting mythological status. So many times i read about it. Someone would think he had 14 pts in 7 games. All in all he has decent PO numbers...why are people so high on his PO numbers?

Here's what they actually look like for his career:

via Hockey-Reference .com:

 

[Darch]

I don't like his recent play at all. But it's hard because Willy has always showed up in the playoffs whereas Matthews and Marner have not. Would rather move JT instead to be honest.

If Marner and Matthews can produce, then maybe move on from Willy.

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.

 

[Avilaj07]

Like I've said in previous posts, when Nylander is on and engaged, he's a top winger in the game. The problem is, his effort level and competitiveness is so inconsistent that it frustrates everyone. No one denies his skill and ability, but it's just drive that is frustrating as hell. Personally, I would move him in the off season for someone who still has skill but also has that drive and passion. Someone along the lines of a Travis Konecny or my dream addition would be JT Miller.

 

[francis246]

Here's what they actually look like for his career:

via Hockey-Reference .com:

View attachment 522916

Marner has 25 points in 32
Matthews has 24 points in 32
Nylander has 23 points in 32.

The notion that one has been better than the other in the playoffs is false. They all have been right around the same. It’s just recency bias because Nylanders most recent playoffs was his best where as Marner and Matthews have had better playoff series against Boston. All three have been pretty good at various points in playoff series’. We just need all 3 to be great at the same time which is hard but needs to be done for us to have success.

I personally wouldn’t move any of those 3. Just keep going back to the well, they are going to do it eventually.

 

[1specter]

So what??? Thats history.

This regular season will also be history once the playoffs start. Very possible that Nylander has a great playoffs again.

 

[riffle]

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.

In the 4 opportunities in deciding games here's what the production looks like:

Nylander 1G 2A = 3 PTS

Marner 0G 1A = 1 PT

Matthews 1G 1A = 2 PTS

Four games is a small sample size but oh so magnified. Nylander has the same amount of points as Matthews and Marner, combined. Clearly, we've needed more from Matthews and Marner and our goalies.

 

[Stephen]

He bails on any physical contact? You know thats just simply not true right?

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.

 

[AvroArrow]

Absolutely not. He's a legitimate top 6 forward, he would be on our first line if not for the superstar Marner. Actually Nylander would be the 1st line RW on pretty much every single team in the NHL, he's a 70 point winger and was our best player by a mile in the playoffs last year. If he is traded, it damn sure won't be for just a pick and prospect. He's an established star, you want equal value back not a crapshoot. I would look for a playmaking winger back. Problem isn't Nylander, problem is Tavares/Nylander are similar players in that they need a playmaker to help create space and get the puck to their stick. That's why they don't work well together. Another solution would be to find them a legitimate LW, obviously not as good as Marner, but one who can create space and make plays like that.

Only situation I move on from Nylander is for a playmaking top 6 winger of equal or close to equal value + a little.

 

[therealkoho]

That’s a belief not a fact

But nevertheless one that resonates strong among LeaFlanders

 

[riffle]

who is the cobra? i thought that was me

You are Le Cobra. "Cobra" is Ilya Mikheyev.

 

[Twine Tickler]

I love Will, and I genuinely think he has as much talent to be in the same conversation as Mitch and Auston. He can be elite if he wants to. He's shown games where he is the best player on the ice by a mile. It's just not consistent enough over 82 games. More so from his compete level away from the puck. His skill will always allow him to produce.

What sucks is that we saw Willy take significant strides forward with respect to the defensive side of the game early on this season. He was an absolute dog on the puck. Great stick, active feet, and just overall was outworking his man every shift. He's just not been that guy for too long now.

I voted yes, but Willy has proved me wrong so many times before. The second we start to doubt him, he shoves it right down our throats. I don't think there is any deal we make with Willy involved where we get a better player back. I think by moving Will we would be trading a $10 bill for 2x $5 bills. It's a major risk, but if we fail once again in the playoffs something will have to give unfortunately. Willy is just the logical choice here given JT's NMC and extremely high AAV.

There is just so much talent and ability in Willy. I just hope we don't have to get to that point TBH. I am guessing it will be a decision we regret very quickly.

But that all said, Willy needs to wake up. His engagement level is no where near what he is capable of. We've seen him engaged before, and this is not even close to what we are seeing right now. I am not asking him to show a level of engagement that he has not already proven he can provide. He knows he can be better, and I trust that he will

 

[Judas Tavares]

I think the biggest factor here, and the same factor it has been the whole time, is less about effort and engagement and more about salary cap structure.

If Matthews and Marner are the guys and Tavares cannot be traded, well you have Willy by process of elimination there. If the need is to allocate more cap to different positions, well his contract is big enough to allocate funds around, but not so big it cannot be traded. So he becomes a likely candidate whether some like it (and many do and pray for it each day) or not.

 

[Hoglund4MvP]

He "checked out" same time he was major factor informally clinching playoff spot. Seem maybe mentally there is no benefit wasting all his energy now since result is the same win or lose. Finish first, finish last wild card, doesnt matter you have 3 hard playoff rounds coming.

Thread like this is premature. This is not how you treat player who helped carry you for 40 games and in this 40 games you already comfy in playoffs. Not many player in league can do that. Only time he didn't show up during that time was back to backs when he needed a breather. Imagine if he did it every other game, it would span entire 82 game season instead, and still not many player in league can do it every other game. Nylander is a top 30 talent in the league this place is just too spoiled and full of angry old men, so have no grasp on reality of the NHL.

Wait for playoff performance before picking on Nylander. His contribution to the team this season is positive no matter how final 40 games play out (regular season). He 25, next season maybe he do it for 50-60 game straight and so on as he approach 26-29 years old. He's not generational or Matthews/Marner level you need to be sensible.

Even at worst he stay around point per game. Not many player can do that either when getting this much hate. He's a keeper. His first 40 game style will come back for playoffs, watch. People in this thread don't understand hockey.

 

[francis246]

I can't believe people here are actually voting yes as a favourite option lol. At least see what he does in the playoffs for f***s sake

Lol it’s just a vote, it means nothing really. Dubas isn’t looking at this thread and gathering data