News Article: No, William Nylander is not better than Mitch Marner, under any circumstances

[Nineteen67]

If it's so easy for him to repeatedly do that, why can't Marner or Matthews do it then? Pretty braindead take.

Wide open ice, wide open net, he’s fine n those situation.

My concern is why does he give up on plays like McDonagh, Krug ( you likely never even saw that one it but it was vintage Willy) and the overtly obvious ones that make sports centre.

 

[thewave]

More skilled? Probably. Better player? Not a chance. Nylander consistently produced when mattered. Marner collects a lot of empty points.

Exactly.

In crunch time I am taking Nylander.

He can also gain a zone like very few others at this point and his game has rounded out pretty well. Sweet shot too.


Marner is already not as fast or nimble as he was even two years ago. Certainly a player in decline and I hope they don't make the mistake of overpaying him as well.

 

[Fogelhund]

I can tell you one circumstance where Nylanders better and it’s the most important circumstance.
And it’s the playoffs.
Sorry, it’s the truth. And we all hope Mitch wakes the f*** up this playoffs.

Noting... Marner's offensive stats are often tied to Matthew's ability to score in the playoffs. Matthews is a career 16% shooter, but that falls below 10% in the playoffs. Matthews shot 5% these playoffs.

That isn't excusing Marner... clearly something about the way these two play in the playoffs... they just cannot match their regular season production... You regularly look at the results... and if Matthews scores two, three more goals in these playoffs, and we are through to the next round... it's kind of been the same most playoff series we lose.

 

[ULF_55]

(Between marner and Nylander - exclude Matthews)

If I want someone to set-up a goal scorer it would be marner.
If I want someone to score that goal it would be Nylander.

Again ...

Last 5 years, when they were both men (playoffs):

 

[Fogelhund]

If we want to win... Marner has to be setting up Matthews for goals... and Matthews has to score. Nylander has to be the next line guy, and producing... It's just the way it is.

 

[IPS]

Noting... Marner's offensive stats are often tied to Matthew's ability to score in the playoffs. Matthews is a career 16% shooter, but that falls below 10% in the playoffs. Matthews shot 5% these playoffs.

You're inadvertently admitting to Marner's key weakness, he has very little ability to score goals in the playoffs on his own. I don't blame Matthews SH% going down when he's literally getting double teamed every shift because Marner's terrified of going anywhere near the net and is shooting from 40 feet out.

 

[QJo]

If we want to win... Marner has to be setting up Matthews for goals... and Matthews has to score. Nylander has to be the next line guy, and producing... It's just the way it is.

I'm not so sure. I'm more convinced that Nylander should be with Matthews to keep defenders honest about covering Matthews as THE scoring threat. Marner as an elite set up man should be paired with two somewhat equal players to let his vision create unpredictable scoring chances.

I'm convinced that is the formula until proven otherwise (which could happen because you can't just wish things into existence).

 

[57 Years No Cup]

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[Fogelhund]

You're inadvertently admitting to Marner's key weakness, he has very little ability to score goals in the playoffs on his own. I don't blame Matthews SH% going down when he's literally getting double teamed every shift because Marner's terrified of going anywhere near the net and is shooting from 40 feet out.

As opposed to suggesting that the NHL knows how to shut down Matthews and Marner, but then chooses to ignore that in the regular season every year?? Sorry, that’s just not logical.

 

[IPS]

As opposed to suggesting that the NHL knows how to shut down Matthews and Marner, but then chooses to ignore that in the regular season every year?? Sorry, that’s just not logical.

Antropovsky's probably posted a million times how Marner's shot distance changes quite dramatically from regular season to playoffs. There's definitely legs to the theory.

 

[1specter]

Antropovsky's probably posted a million times how Marner's shot distance changes quite dramatically from regular season to playoffs. There's definitely legs to the theory.

Yeah, it's not really farfetched. Playoffs are called differently, more obstruction is allowed, and Marner / Matthews seem to have a harder time fighting through the additional obstruction and infractions, especially Marner who is not particularly strong.

 

[5mokey]

Nylander also had the task of dragging Tavares corpse around.

He’s a much more explosive and dynamic player than Marner.

Scores bigger goals as well. Someone please show me a big playoff goal or moment that Marner has been directly involved in. Not including putting the puck over the glass or that meaningless goal against Boston last year. Please

I call him “tunnel vision Tavares” , don’t know how many times I’ve screamed “pass the puck” at him

 

[notDatsyuk]

Last 4 seasons for reference.

View attachment 902141

You have to lump several seasons together to get that. If you break them down by season:

2021 - Marner 1.22 Nylander 0.82
2022 - Marner 1.35 Nylander 0.99
2023 - Marner 1.24 Nylander 1.06
2024 - Marner 1.23 Nylander 1.20

Which very clearly supports what I said earlier (that you laughed at):

"Marner may well have been the better player a few years ago, but that is certainly not true any more. His game has not improved significantly, while Nylander has continued to improve, even while his usual centre has declined."

For reference, Matthews' ppg went from 1.15 in '23 to 1.32 in '24, while Tavares' went from 1.00 to 0.81.

 

[notDatsyuk]

If y'all want another good read, check out this one:

The great irony of the Toronto Maple Leafs is that Kyle Dubas was right

The Toronto Maple Leafs will live to regret letting Kyle Dubas go in favor of keeping Brendan Shanahan on as president. Although it doesn't seem like it now, t

editorinleaf.com

The great irony of the Toronto Maple Leafs is that Kyle Dubas was right​

The ex Gm was right, but he just never got the results he deserved

"The Toronto Maple Leafs will live to regret letting Kyle Dubas go in favor of keeping Brendan Shanahan on as president. Although it doesn't seem like it now, the NHL's youngest executive came withing inches of revolutionizing the NHL during his time running the league's premier franchise."

I didn't realize he was a comedy writer - I may have to read more of his 'articles'.

 

[ACC1224]

You have to lump several seasons together to get that. If you break them down by season:

2021 - Marner 1.22 Nylander 0.82
2022 - Marner 1.35 Nylander 0.99
2023 - Marner 1.24 Nylander 1.06
2024 - Marner 1.23 Nylander 1.20

Which very clearly supports what I said earlier (that you laughed at):

"Marner may well have been the better player a few years ago, but that is certainly not true any more. His game has not improved significantly, while Nylander has continued to improve, even while his usual centre has declined."

For reference, Matthews' ppg went from 1.15 in '23 to 1.32 in '24, while Tavares' went from 1.00 to 0.81.

Correct, Marner has had a greater P/GP every season.
Yes, Nylander had more room to improve and has which is great.

 

[egd27]

Noting... Marner's offensive stats are often tied to Matthew's ability to score in the playoffs. Matthews is a career 16% shooter, but that falls below 10% in the playoffs. Matthews shot 5% these playoffs.

That isn't excusing Marner... clearly something about the way these two play in the playoffs... they just cannot match their regular season production... You regularly look at the results... and if Matthews scores two, three more goals in these playoffs, and we are through to the next round... it's kind of been the same most playoff series we lose.

Coaches don't specifically game plan against the Leafs in the regular season the way they do in the playoffs. You can clearly see when teams (like Ottawa) do come with a specific game plan, they generally do well against the Leafs.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Antropovsky's probably posted a million times how Marner's shot distance changes quite dramatically from regular season to playoffs.

He certainly likes posting about a few neutral zone dump ins hitting the net and skewing averages in a small sample, and then using it to make incorrect claims about the rest of his shots.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Correct, Marner has had a greater P/GP every season.
Yes, Nylander had more room to improve and has which is great.

"Missed it by that much."

 

[Rare Jewel]

If you need a goal in the last 3 minutes of game 7, we know Nylander is going to give you every ounce of the 50% effort he has.

If you need to score in any situation,

1st period, last 5 minutes, at the club/bar.

Willie is your guy.

 

[colchar]

Nothing but clickbait from that pathetically shitty website, and some people are actually falling for it.

 

[ULF_55]

Last 5 years:
[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]Player[/TD]
[TD]GP[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD]P[/TD]
[TD]Belak Points[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Auston Matthews[/TD]

[TD]

350​

[/TD]

[TD]

257​

[/TD]

[TD]

187​

[/TD]

[TD]

444​

[/TD]

[TD]

701​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mitch Marner[/TD]

[TD]

335​

[/TD]

[TD]

127​

[/TD]

[TD]

288​

[/TD]

[TD]

415​

[/TD]

[TD]

542​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]William Nylander[/TD]

[TD]

364​

[/TD]

[TD]

162​

[/TD]

[TD]

204​

[/TD]

[TD]

366​

[/TD]

[TD]

528​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]John Tavares[/TD]

[TD]

358​

[/TD]

[TD]

137​

[/TD]

[TD]

194​

[/TD]

[TD]

331​

[/TD]

[TD]

468​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[notbias]

Yeah, it's not really farfetched. Playoffs are called differently, more obstruction is allowed, and Marner / Matthews seem to have a harder time fighting through the additional obstruction and infractions, especially Marner who is not particularly strong.

Are there any stats to back this up?

I have witnessed Leafs games that are called tighter and looser in the playoffs.

I think overall there are more penalties, but I'd be curious to see the types being called.

Coaches don't specifically game plan against the Leafs in the regular season the way they do in the playoffs. You can clearly see when teams (like Ottawa) do come with a specific game plan, they generally do well against the Leafs.

It is Ottawa's Stanley Cup, that is why they do well.

 

[AvroArrow]

OP Still going with 110% effort on the Marner train

 

[Madap]

People are certainly welcome to a have a preference and the difference between the two isn't massive but the bolded isn't true.
Marner has had the better P/GP for the last two years(didn't check but it's probably their entire careers), while be the better defensive player.

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Yeah but Nylander is the better goal scorer and does it without the benefit of Matthews. His line mates are just a carousel of players at times and the guy just keeps on trucking along.

It is definitely tough to quantify how much the linemates play a role in these things because Matthews also benefits from playing with Marner. Still though, playing with a 69 goal scorer is sure to boost your assists and I wouldn’t put a ton of emphasis just on p/gp.

 

[Enga Olly]

Nylander has been more clutch, other than that, I agree.