Nylander - In round 2 doing his thing.

[Darch]

I'm not a fan of floaters. So trading him for good assets would probably be best for the Leafs.

 

[therealkoho]

Alexei Kovalev 2.0.

Micheal Nylander 2.0

 

[ZEBROA]

Pretty clear who the real Nylander haters are when some of his critics is riding in for his defence.

He has been good enough to help this team win. And not the reason we lost. Played a lot better then it sounds in here. Can and should he be better. Offcourse.

The missing path to the net is unfortunate, but the hot takes about why is insane.

Why did he play better for Sweden? . Well first a way more offensive minded system. Faster teammates, or smarter. Got to be the go to guy.
But more then that a lot worse opponent over all.

 

[horner]

Pretty clear who the real Nylander haters are when some of his critics is riding in for his defence.

He has been good enough to help this team win. And not the reason we lost. Played a lot better then it sounds in here. Can and should he be better. Offcourse.

The missing path to the net is unfortunate, but the hot takes about why is insane.

Why did he play better for Sweden? . Well first a way more offensive minded system. Faster teammates, or smarter. Got to be the go to guy.
But more then that a lot worse opponent over all.

I was hoping we would see willy from the regular season minus the last 10 games .
He wold just take over a game he had a ton of attitude.
The same can be said of Marner .
Mathews can go another level to .

If we wish to win a cup we need 110%

 

[Dr C]

It’s not being a “hater” to state that this is a completely inexcusable effort in a 1-goal game in the third period of a Stanley Cup playoff game. His offensive skills are obvious and superb, but his appalling lack of effort in the clip above are what prevent him from being a true star.

Look at the dedication that Auston Matthews has put into the defensive side of his game.

Now look at the dedication that William Nylander has put into defensive side of his game.

This is why he receives the criticism that he does.

 

[thewave]

It’s not being a “hater” to state that this is a completely inexcusable effort in a 1-goal game in the third period of a Stanley Cup playoff game. His offensive skills are obvious and superb, but his appalling lack of effort in the clip above are what prevent him from being a true star.

Look at the dedication that Auston Matthews has put into the defensive side of his game.

Now look at the dedication that William Nylander has put into defensive side of his game.

This is why he receives the criticism that he does.

That was pretty awful. The whole team did a whole bunch of that crap though. If I were them I would be pretty embarrassed about my first round 2 game in 19 years being a joke effort.

Jokes over, YOU ARE HERE. Play the game to win.

 

[Nineteen67]

It’s not being a “hater” to state that this is a completely inexcusable effort in a 1-goal game in the third period of a Stanley Cup playoff game. His offensive skills are obvious and superb, but his appalling lack of effort in the clip above are what prevent him from being a true star.

Look at the dedication that Auston Matthews has put into the defensive side of his game.

Now look at the dedication that William Nylander has put into defensive side of his game.

This is why he receives the criticism that he does.

That’s ugly. Looks like he didn’t even care it went in.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Nylander on that Stamkos goal
Floating

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

I thought this regular season would be a real turning point for him unfortunately I have become very frustrated with him in the playoffs. This guy has a skill rating of 99 but a concentration rating of 47. On three separate occasions last night he fumbled perfect passes to him in dangerous areas of the ice. Watching him slow down along the boards to avoid any sort of contact has been brutal. This guy is capable of blowing games wide open, but it doesn't seem like he wants it.

 

[DarkKnight]

Opinion | William Nylander’s underlying numbers impress, but those numbers might be lying

The Leafs forward, who hasn’t scored in five games, didn’t pass the eye test in a Game 1 loss.

www.thestar.com

This actually mirrors my 100 feet of desire comments. Sure he’s get chances, but there’s no excuse for bullshit defence in the playoffs, from anyone. He’s been garbage in our end all playoffs. He also got 80 percent offensive zone starts last night, how much more protection can he get? You want a ring, lay it on the line Bill, don’t just blow zones and look for goals.

 

[The Best Leafs Everr]

Wouldn't mind to let him go or trade him. We need to make decisions on behalf of ROR and he can be the casualty and no one would care. The team full of no sandpaper can not shelter him.

 

[Superstar]

Wouldn't mind to let him go or trade him. We need to make decisions on behalf of ROR and he can be the casualty and no one would care. The team full of no sandpaper can not shelter him.

I think the Leafs will need to dismantle the core 4 regardless how they do these playoffs, and Willy will be traded...there's just not enough cap space to go around for all of them.

 

[notDatsyuk]

It’s not being a “hater” to state that this is a completely inexcusable effort in a 1-goal game in the third period of a Stanley Cup playoff game. His offensive skills are obvious and superb, but his appalling lack of effort in the clip above are what prevent him from being a true star.

Look at the dedication that Auston Matthews has put into the defensive side of his game.

Now look at the dedication that William Nylander has put into defensive side of his game.

This is why he receives the criticism that he does.

Beyond covering his man when the team is shorthanded, what exactly did you expect him to do?

 

[Menzinger]

That was pretty awful. The whole team did a whole bunch of that crap though. If I were them I would be pretty embarrassed about my first round 2 game in 19 years being a joke effort.

Jokes over, YOU ARE HERE. Play the game to win.

And that's the thing. Nylander deserves flack for his defensive play that game - BUT - it's the singling out that I find strange. The Leafs forward unit on the ice during the first Florida goal for example were an absolute joke on that play but Nylander wasnt on the ice so it won't be brought up again

 

[notDatsyuk]

And that's the thing. Nylander deserves flack for his defensive play that game - BUT - it's the singling out that I find strange. The Leafs forward unit on the ice during the first Florida goal for example were an absolute joke on that play but Nylander wasnt on the ice so it won't be brought up again

I sometimes think that his contract is the problem.

Maybe if he was making in the $10-12M range he'd be criticism proof. That seems to be the situation.

 

[Stephen]

It’s not being a “hater” to state that this is a completely inexcusable effort in a 1-goal game in the third period of a Stanley Cup playoff game. His offensive skills are obvious and superb, but his appalling lack of effort in the clip above are what prevent him from being a true star.

Look at the dedication that Auston Matthews has put into the defensive side of his game.

Now look at the dedication that William Nylander has put into defensive side of his game.

This is why he receives the criticism that he does.

I seem to recall that delayed penalty went on for quite a while before Florida scored, and don't remember how long that unit had been out there for. The routine situation is you get a puck touch and the whistle blows... but that's not to excuse the regular season effort and attention to detail and compete that went on there.

I always look at Phil Kessel's time in Pittsburgh, him slotting in the 3-4 role on that team and the back to back championships they won as Nylander's ultimate upside on a winning team. But this is also a double edged sword because Kessel was the first guy they got rid of post championship. So the reality is we either win with Nylander and it looks like the correct call and all the trade offs were worth it to have that gamebreaking ability... or he'll drive you nuts.

 

[Gabriel426]

Willie defensive play overall is alright but his Dzone defensive play is really weak esp this playoffs. It is not about skill but he just lacks positional sense at time and it is hurting the team. I think playing with ROR is good for him bc ROR is very vocal on the ice. Willie needs that.

 

[ZEBROA]

I was hoping we would see willy from the regular season minus the last 10 games .
He wold just take over a game he had a ton of attitude.
The same can be said of Marner .
Mathews can go another level to .

If we wish to win a cup we need 110%

The 20+ last games he was put with Tavares or third line. That is not how to get his confidence going. To switch lines in the middle of the playoff and expect him to hit the ground running is naive. Keefe should have forseen that Nylander Tavares line would not work and not beat that dead horse into oblivion.

The coach job is to elevate all players as much as they can. Some how he dont care if Nylander gets going or not. Until its to late.

The talk about him not caring or being afraid is so stupid that i will not even care to respond to those people. He need to go more on instinct, and not get time to think to much. With Tavares he has the time to through all his decisions in life twice before he is playable.

His shot% must be low. He needs to pot a goal or two.

 

[ZEBROA]

I seem to recall that delayed penalty went on for quite a while before Florida scored, and don't remember how long that unit had been out there for. The routine situation is you get a puck touch and the whistle blows... but that's not to excuse the regular season effort and attention to detail and compete that went on there.

I always look at Phil Kessel's time in Pittsburgh, him slotting in the 3-4 role on that team and the back to back championships they won as Nylander's ultimate upside on a winning team. But this is also a double edged sword because Kessel was the first guy they got rid of post championship. So the reality is we either win with Nylander and it looks like the correct call and all the trade offs were worth it to have that gamebreaking ability... or he'll drive you nuts.

Look at the others, he was not the only one standing still.
It is ok to give him crap, but most of them was crap that sequence. It almost like the writers know he got haters and defenders and want to fuel that to get more readers. Like quoting parts of a sentence to make someting look way worse then it is. And then the haters gather. Like that free gate to the net pic.

If he play every game like this first against Panthers then we will probably win. 7shots/game should result in goals.

 

[ZEBROA]

His shot% is 6,7. Thats worse then Engvall. I would like to see a big improvment there. On D i just expect him to not be in the D zone much at all.

 

[thewave]

And that's the thing. Nylander deserves flack for his defensive play that game - BUT - it's the singling out that I find strange. The Leafs forward unit on the ice during the first Florida goal for example were an absolute joke on that play but Nylander wasnt on the ice so it won't be brought up again

Call me crazy but it seems that for long as I can remember Toronto has this quality. The Leafs fans always pick a few decent players to run out of town. Usually it's a goalie or good Dmen. The funny part about that is that those players usually have good underlying stats and most teams can utilize them and win with them.

I think the real issue with the Leafs is lack of sticking to a strategy. One day it's truculence, then you have a run and gun coach. Then it's hard nose grit and grinding with Babcock. He starts them down that path, nope we're going to switch to NuHockey now. Then NuHockey hasn't worked so this year we have this patchwork team.

Pretty hard to develop players like Nylander that do all the things these people love when you're shifting around the team strategy like that.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Call me crazy but it seems that for long as I can remember Toronto has this quality. The Leafs fans always pick a few decent players to run out of town. Usually it's a goalie or good Dmen. The funny part about that is that those players usually have good underlying stats and most teams can utilize them and win with them.

I think the real issue with the Leafs is lack of sticking to a strategy. One day it's truculence, then you have a run and gun coach. Then it's hard nose grit and grinding with Babcock. He starts them down that path, nope we're going to switch to NuHockey now. Then NuHockey hasn't worked so this year we have this patchwork team.

Pretty hard to develop players like Nylander that do all the things these people love when you're shifting around the team strategy like that.

It is actually really simple: Toronto always adores players who work hard and show heart.

That is why players like Kennedy, Sittler, Clark, and Gilmour are legends even bigger than their talents in Toronto. We love the guys that show up with their lunchpail and give 100%.

There is a good reason too. My old man always told me to try my best when playing sports because in competitions you're only able to truly test and prove yourself against your opponents if you do. You owe it to yourself to know where you stand and you owe it to them. Really minimizes the "what-ifs" later on.

Nylander is a "what-if" player a lot of the time and so Toronto will never really warm up to him.

 

[thewave]

It is actually really simple: Toronto always adores players who work hard and show heart.

That is why players like Kennedy, Sittler, Clark, and Gilmour are legends even bigger than their talents in Toronto. We love the guys that show up with their lunchpail and give 100%.

There is a good reason too. My old man always told me to try my best when playing sports because in competitions you're only able to truly test and prove yourself against your opponents if you do. You owe it to yourself to know where you stand and you owe it to them. Really minimizes the "what-ifs" later on.

Nylander is a "what-if" player a lot of the time and so Toronto will never really warm up to him.

I agree to an extent. I would say Leafs fans like players that hit and mix it up really. I am the same way but a lot of those guys we loved were terrible at hockey. You need to balance it up somewhat and have a guy like Nylander playing with guys like Gary Roberts if you can find them. Colton Orr was awesome, not great at hockey.

It's very difficult to find all situations players.

 

[Notsince67]

Call me crazy but it seems that for long as I can remember Toronto has this quality. The Leafs fans always pick a few decent players to run out of town. Usually it's a goalie or good Dmen. The funny part about that is that those players usually have good underlying stats and most teams can utilize them and win with them.

I think the real issue with the Leafs is lack of sticking to a strategy. One day it's truculence, then you have a run and gun coach. Then it's hard nose grit and grinding with Babcock. He starts them down that path, nope we're going to switch to NuHockey now. Then NuHockey hasn't worked so this year we have this patchwork team.

Pretty hard to develop players like Nylander that do all the things these people love when you're shifting around the team strategy like that.

A bit hypocritical of you when you constantly slam Mitch who is thrown in every situation. While I don't disagree with your premise here, you definitely suit your argument to your favorites.

 

[Notsince67]

I agree to an extent. I would say Leafs fans like players that hit and mix it up really. I am the same way but a lot of those guys we loved were terrible at hockey. You need to balance it up somewhat and have a guy like Nylander playing with guys like Gary Roberts if you can find them. Colton Orr was awesome, not great at hockey.

It's very difficult to find all situations players.

In all situations, Leafs just need to pull the trigger quicker and more frequently. Dirty goals is how it's won. Hope they get this right