Just leave him with Marner and swap Nylander to Matthews line. He always seems to play much better with Mitch. Keefe will do the exact opposite though and go back to the same lines ASAP.
John Tavares Discussion
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I've said the same thing repeatedly.
Nylander wants to score off the rush, if not wants to control the puck around the outside and try and find space up high.
JT wants to grind down low, get to the net, make quick plays in tight.
They don't work together.
notDatsyuk
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- Jul 20, 2018
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Agreed. Marner is better at slowing down and waiting for JT to catch up, but he's much more effective with Matthews, who he doesn't have to wait for.
On thd first goal, Marner took a nothing pass from JT, and it was Sandin who was quick enough to take advantage.
Tavares is good in the faceoff circle and in the slot, as was shown by his goal.
Except for a PP or a faceoff in the attacking zone, it seems to be a waste of either Marner or Nylander.
Skullz
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- Jul 5, 2013
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I agree. They simply are not a fit together. Both excel in areas where they other lacks. We need to figure something else out.
hotpaws
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this isn't that difficult a situation to figure out
-JT can't skate
-JT needs his linemates to cover the ice and create chances for him around the net
solution
-throw JT's slow ass on AM's wing
i know this messes with some people's mind because they need to believe JT is an elite franchise C to justify his cap hit but unfortunately the facts are he isn't
put Kerfoot at C with Bunting/Nylander and let Willie drive the line without feeling the need to play at half speed so Johnny doesn't get left to far behind
-JT can't skate
-JT needs his linemates to cover the ice and create chances for him around the net
solution
-throw JT's slow ass on AM's wing
i know this messes with some people's mind because they need to believe JT is an elite franchise C to justify his cap hit but unfortunately the facts are he isn't
put Kerfoot at C with Bunting/Nylander and let Willie drive the line without feeling the need to play at half speed so Johnny doesn't get left to far behind
I liked Robertson on his wing and would like to see that moving forward if they are not going to try Mikheyev there again (who looked amazing).
JT will finish the year around a ~PPG and people will still shit on him no matter what. I really do think Nylander isn't a fit for him though. High skilled wingers aren't really the best type of fit for Tavares, hard forechecking grinding types with a nose for the net seemed to fit best with him.
hotpaws
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and Willy who has about the same amount of points gets endlessly shit on but few fans get upset like they do when someone makes a comment about poor little Johnny , hell most of the players get shit on so why should JT being above any criticism ?
the problem with Johnny's points is there's too many of them that are a product of the talent he plays with and not of his own doing , case in point last night
- his assist consisted of making a simple 3 foot pass at the blue line to Marner who created the play and set up Sandin
- his goal was a puck that glanced off his foot
hardly anything praise worthy but still you'll get comments about how stellar a game he had when for the most part it was no different than how he's been playing
Could you imagine a Mitch-Matthews-JT line.
35 million dollars just dominating
diceman934
Help is on the way.
No thanks Mathews is playing great with Marner. Move soup on his right and add speed and contact to the right of JT.
diceman934
Help is on the way.
So early this year they played great together the difference is Willy stopped skating
Honestly I think this is a good way to go. Either that or Maybe Kase-JT-Marner so you can keep the Bunting/Matthews chemistry. JT can work at centre with a guy like Mitch because of Mitch's outstanding game sense. Mitch can play fast, but he's at his best when he can surgically and methodically break down defenses with great plays. That's something even a slow JT can work with.
I think Nylander would put in much more consistent effort knowing that not only the two players to the left of you are workhorse and you'll look embarassing laying an egg with them, but they will keep up with you and make due on their chances that you create. Something that hasn't been true with JT (and to a lesser extent Kerf).
Matthews plays great with anybody.
Tavares looks like a listless corpse playing with Nylander.
Also the idea that Tavares’ crap play is because Nylander stopped skating is a reach too. Did you not see the pass Willy gave Tavares last night on the PP? He hasn’t been able to bury prime chances for awhile and that’s on him.
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So a supposed superstar making 11M only scores 2 goals in 20 games and it's all the wingers fault? Yikes, bad take and you should be ashamed about it.
Hopefully it does better now with how Mitch and Matty are playing, but we saw that "super line" against Columbus in the playoffs. They got shutdown.
DraftSchmaft
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Lol John Tavares is an established center who would be the no.1 C on half of the NHL teams. Imagine thinking Jack Campbell has earned the same benefit of the doubt as John Tavares just because of two 20 game stretches out of his entire career.
This is what was expected to occur next year .. but father time is what it is .. it should happen before playoffs this year
Racer88
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- Sep 29, 2020
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You are absolutely correct about Marners ability to slow it down for Tavares. The shame of it is the fact that we need Marner to slow down for one of our 11 million dollar players
Skullz
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- Jul 5, 2013
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Tavares is what, a top 5 paid forward in the NHL? But its on Nylander to get him going? Only reason Willy stopped skating is because Tavares can't keep up with him.
hotpaws
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Imagine a coach holding a career back up goalie who’s making peanuts to a higher standard than his 11m center ? That’s shocking especially considering the teams been making excuses for the 11m center for the last 2 and 3/4 seasons every time his play drops .
Stephen
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Maybe the Leafs should try to find someone like Jordan Eberle to play with John Tavares and move off of the JT-Nylander duo permanently. Eberle himself is probably too expensive but someone along those lines. (Assuming Marner stays on a Matthews line).
What I'm reminded of from last night's game is how Marner and JT operated back in 2019 and maybe they need to replicate those conditions to get the most out of Tavares that isn't a heavy grinding game. I think we could try to find a great puck carrying forward who can go east west and facilitate, and play a lower tempo delay game to buy Tavares time to get to the spots where he wants to go. That activates JT's give and go tendencies but we don't need to go full grinder mode.
What I'm reminded of from last night's game is how Marner and JT operated back in 2019 and maybe they need to replicate those conditions to get the most out of Tavares that isn't a heavy grinding game. I think we could try to find a great puck carrying forward who can go east west and facilitate, and play a lower tempo delay game to buy Tavares time to get to the spots where he wants to go. That activates JT's give and go tendencies but we don't need to go full grinder mode.
diceman934
Help is on the way.
So early this year they played great together the difference is Willy stopped skating
no effort on your wing is the cause of the line not creating goals and getting scored against. Early this season most on here were saying he is fantastic etc. while playing with JT. So funny JT is still working his ass off the difference in the line is Willy stop getting involved. TJ is out skating Nylander currently as Willy is not skating so blaming JT is assine.
diceman934
Help is on the way.
Mathews plays great with Marner and good with other players. Nylander is the listless corpse his number state this very clearly. Last night he avoided pucks he could get to and caused turnovers. JT battles for pucks only to see Nylander give up possession to avoid checks and does nothing to create extra offensive chances he is a run away leader as our worse minus player. Look at his plus minus and compare him to his linemates to see. Horrid and embarrassing.
DraftSchmaft
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Massive exaggeration. Last bad outing he blamed the crease clearing issue, didn't even mention Jack. Last week he gave Jack a vote of confidence saying he believes he will bust through it.
He called him out because he's the no.1 goalie and the goals he let in were goals even your 5th string backup should make. Tavares is at least still competing and maintains second liner production when he's off his game.
You're completely lost on this issue it's not worth discussing further
hotpaws
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Poor Johnny , ever since he left a stacked Marlie team in the G his line mates have let him down . First it was the Gens then the Knights , he gets to the NHL and the Islanders let him down/held him back for 9 years and then they spitefully made back to back final 4 appearances just to flip him the bird
And then finally he thinks he’s got some guys to back him up here in Toronto only to have the leafs let him down as well .
I weep like a small child thinking about how everyone keeps letting down a perfect player like Johnny and then I think maybe there’s never been anyone good enough to play with him and i weep some more .
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I think he's gripping the stick too much. I'd suggest loading up the second line. Give him Nylander and Marner. Matthews can carry the first line with Bunting and or Kase/Roberston.
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