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William Nylander appreciation thread

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Last 13 games, 18 points. That would be 108 points over 78 games pace. Thats why Nylander frustrates me.

If anyone recalls Nylanders rush last night during 4 on 4, it ended up with him trying to deke the dman but thats not the point. It was eye opening to see, Nylander took off and showed his full skating ability, but he looked hungry, aggressive, confident, special. If that Nylander shows up in the playoffs, he can carry any of his linemates and the Leafs will make the Cup final. I hope Leaf fans realize that, how much the Leafs season is hinging on Nylander showing up or not and how bleeping dangerous it makes this team.
 
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it might just be a good thing that willy doesn't bring it every game. If he brings it in the playoffs and gives us 75-85 pts in the reg season he saves us likely ~3M in cap.

Obviously I'd like him to bring it lol but hey silver linings?
 
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mapleleaf979 said:
Last 13 games, 18 points. That would be 108 points over 78 games pace. Thats why Nylander frustrates me.

If anyone recalls Nylanders rush last night during 4 on 4, it ended up with him trying to deke the dman but thats not the point. It was eye opening to see, Nylander took off and showed his full skating ability, but he looked hungry, aggressive, confident, special. If that Nylander shows up in the playoffs, he can carry any of his linemates and the Leafs will make the Cup final. I hope Leaf fans realize that, how much the Leafs season is hinging on Nylander showing up or not and how bleeping dangerous it makes this team.
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We saw it last playoffs. 5 goals 8 points with Kerf and Gally as his running mates. That is what Willy is capable of. After seeing his recent resurgence I have no doubt he will be a stud for us in the playoffs. If Matthews and Marner continue their play and we have a healthy JT in the playoffs..... Watch out.
 
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VanW27 said:
Is that really reasonable though, scoring is up this year so we'll probably finish with ~10 guys with 100+ pts, should Nylander really be a top 10 scorer in the league? (There were six 100 point players last time we had a full season)

More consistency would be nice for sure, but the reality is pretty much all players go through poor streatches throughout the year, but most don't get the level of scrutiny Nylander gets during those times.
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Agreed. I always found the "he'd be a 90-100 point player if he did X" to be strange considering when he's having a slump he usually still produces. I'm not sure he's got this hidden part of offense to his game - the criticisms he ends up getting have to do with engagement or defensive play ect. Him being a 70-80 point guy over his best years still puts him amongst the best playera this team last several decades, which in of itself is a remarkable feat.

He's just got a personality that rubs some folks the wrong way, which is unfortunate. Every player has down periods. Marners having what is likely the best season of his career to date and he had a pretty mediocre start to the season. Though its silly to bring that up now. Nylander having some off games in mid March doesn't get to define what he did this season or who he is as a player.
 
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In the last three seasons Nylander has the 28th most points in the NHL, even though he’s only been his team’s 4th scoring option during that time, and wasn’t even on the first power-play unit for much of that time.

Nylander has more points over the last three seasons that Svechnikov, Point, Kuznetsov, Forsberg, Rust, Ehlers, Petterson, Meir, Kadri etc.
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editorinleaf.com

Toronto Maple Leafs Underrated Superstar Sets Career Highs

Toronto Maple Leafs Underrated Superstar Sets Career Highs . William Nylander is the Leafs 3rd best player and one of the NHL's ...
editorinleaf.com editorinleaf.com

Points aren't everything and when Nylander is undermotivated his overall game can be horrendous but his potential is always there. 28th in total points over the last 3 years, his game in the playins last year, certainly suggest he's an asset, in TO an underappreciated asset.

I watch him on the PP and I see that Marner brings the puck into the opposition's zone all the time and Mitch is pretty good at it but I also think Willie is as good at it. I think that Willie's lapses in intensity are the result of expectations that the coaches have in him.

I understand that Willie was willing to PK but other than a rare appearance, he's not used there.

I think easy going Willie is an alpha dog who wants to be recognized for his value, TO might not be the best place for him but he is a great asset for TO.
 
If he was the go to guy on another team, he could get 100p(or with Marner or Matthews this year) . Not as a 2nd/3rd line player, and never with Tavares.

I would love to se Tavares demoted to 3rd line when he struggles. "but when he struggles he still compete" well he has to or he would not be moving at all.

I am more worried about the Tavares vs the other 11mills, then Nylander vs the 11 Mills.
 
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I think Nylander has a bit of Malkin syndrome in him. When he has to play in the shadow of Matthews, Marner, Tavares he kinda gets lost in the shuffle and has stretches where his effort level wanes a bit.

I noticed during Matthews and Marner's recent hot streak, he was noticeably worse than usual. Then when Matthews goes out, he steps up again.

Does anyone remember 17-18 when Nylander had to take over center duties when Matthews went down? He centered a line with Hyman and Brown and I thought he did great and that his ceiling was gonna be the 1A center on the team next to Matthews. When he's engaged defensively he's a nightmare to deal with in the neutral zone. There was an assist he had that year vs the Panthers where he caught up to Barkov from behind in the neutral zone, stole the puck off of him, fought off a defencemen on a rush and passed it back to Hyman for an easy goal. If Nylander played like that even 70% of the time, nobody in this fanbase would ever criticize him.
 
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TheRumble said:
I think Nylander has a bit of Malkin syndrome in him. When he has to play in the shadow of Matthews, Marner, Tavares he kinda gets lost in the shuffle and has stretches where his effort level wanes a bit.

I noticed during Matthews and Marner's recent hot streak, he was noticeably worse than usual. Then when Matthews goes out, he steps up again.

Does anyone remember 17-18 when Nylander had to take over center duties when Matthews went down? He centered a line with Hyman and Brown and I thought he did great and that his ceiling was gonna be the 1A center on the team next to Matthews. When he's engaged defensively he's a nightmare to deal with in the neutral zone. There was an assist he had that year vs the Panthers where he caught up to Barkov from behind in the neutral zone, stole the puck off of him, fought off a defencemen on a rush and passed it back to Hyman for an easy goal. If Nylander played like that even 70% of the time, nobody in this fanbase would ever criticize him.
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give him the center role on our 2a/2b line.
 
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saffronleaf said:
give him the center role on our 2a/2b line.
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Keefe most recently did this in the Columbus play in series in Game 5 and he honestly didn't look that good. Interestingly, before Matthews was ever drafted, Nylander was seen as the Center of the Future for us and he was THE center on the Marlies during his time there.

Initially this was my idea on how Nylander was going to develop:

He plays the wing alongside Matthews for a few years and then as Kadri aged o left, Nylander would take over the 2C role and Kadri would get pushed out to 3C or not be on the team anymore. Tavares signing changed that trajectory for a bit.

I think if he is going to be on this team after his contract ends, he'll have to eventually take over for Tavares as the 2C. Barring that, we're gonna have to draft one.
 
Nylander seems to be backsliding from all the great development he showed earlier in season. It was like he took a step forward after the Montreal series but for whatever reason is reverting back into a frustratingly inconsistent and unreliable core piece. The stats are there, the progression was there, but that B game still seems to be there.
 
mapleleaf979 said:
Last 13 games, 18 points. That would be 108 points over 78 games pace. Thats why Nylander frustrates me.

If anyone recalls Nylanders rush last night during 4 on 4, it ended up with him trying to deke the dman but thats not the point. It was eye opening to see, Nylander took off and showed his full skating ability, but he looked hungry, aggressive, confident, special. If that Nylander shows up in the playoffs, he can carry any of his linemates and the Leafs will make the Cup final. I hope Leaf fans realize that, how much the Leafs season is hinging on Nylander showing up or not and how bleeping dangerous it makes this team.
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Playing without Tavares he's much better. I think if I had to play on a line with JT I'd lose my will to live too.
 
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William is a tremendous talent who is very inconsistent in the use of that talent. If you could go mad lab, I’d gift JT with 20% of Willy’s skating ability and graft 20% of JT’s work effort into Willy’s heart. Then you’d be looking at a second line that would make you happy.
 
TheRumble said:
I think Nylander has a bit of Malkin syndrome in him. When he has to play in the shadow of Matthews, Marner, Tavares he kinda gets lost in the shuffle and has stretches where his effort level wanes a bit.

I noticed during Matthews and Marner's recent hot streak, he was noticeably worse than usual. Then when Matthews goes out, he steps up again.

Does anyone remember 17-18 when Nylander had to take over center duties when Matthews went down? He centered a line with Hyman and Brown and I thought he did great and that his ceiling was gonna be the 1A center on the team next to Matthews. When he's engaged defensively he's a nightmare to deal with in the neutral zone. There was an assist he had that year vs the Panthers where he caught up to Barkov from behind in the neutral zone, stole the puck off of him, fought off a defencemen on a rush and passed it back to Hyman for an easy goal. If Nylander played like that even 70% of the time, nobody in this fanbase would ever criticize him.
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Hmm not a bad observation about being in the shadow.

I've noticed a change in Nylander when Keefe put him on the 3rd line during the experimentation. He lost that fierceness he showed in the first 40 games. It's funny how Keefe has to come on record just to specify Nylander is not being demoted. It's always Nylander on the outskirts with Keefe. Go figure Nylander gets singled out as the player whose not being punished. Guy goes all out for 40 games and his reward is a public announcement that he's not in trouble. Yeah no shit buddy, the dude was second best player on the team for first half of the season.
 
I think he needs to be on his own line and just let him be the alpha on that line.

Playing him with AM and MM is not a solution. I would put JT with AM and MM, then have Engvall or Bunting with Kerfoot and Willie
 
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Gabriel426 said:
I think he needs to be on his own line and just let him be the alpha on that line.
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This should be obvious to Keefe. He might be unsure if a second line with Nylander will be as good as one with Tavares. Tavares should not have a issue being on the first line, but who knows. This option should at least have been tested 5games already.

Give Nylander room to spread his wings, and play to his potential. Trust in your players can go a longer way then punishments.
 
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Nylander Has the ability to be a much better player for the entirety of the season, not just in huge spurts scattered throughout. I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s always going to be in the same mindset, he’s been that way for the last six seasons and some change, I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Quite frankly, I guess I’m OK with that. I like him for what he brings, I know that he will always have his deficiencies due to his mindset, can’t change that fact about him, so I’ll just enjoy him for what he does bring.

If you look at what Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews have done and elevated their game to even more elite heights, that just shows you how much they care about bringing their very best virtually every single game they play. To me, that’s the difference between him and between players like Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. I’m not saying he’s on the same elite level of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but he doesn’t dedicate his work ethic to the same level that those two do. He’s certainly capable of putting up bigger numbers than he has this season or seasons prior. That’s the point I’m really trying to make when comparing them.

That gift that he gave to John Tavares just shows you how unbelievably talented that he truly is. To me, he’s good enough, but could be so much better. I’ve said that about him every single season, I’ve accepted him for who he is, for better or worse.
 
I would keep Nylander on the 3rd line to start the playoffs, mostly to play a slight mental game with him, something i feel he needs. Main reason is to keep his ego in check. If u see hunger u can switch him onto Tavares line. Nylander's biggest weakness is his compete level...it is more embarassing to himself to dog it on the 3rd line with 2 other line mates making less money, far less pedigree, outwork him on the backcheck over and over again. This in my eyes motivates Nylander because it hits on his pride. It can also give an advantage to the Leafs to have a superstar talent on the 3rd line playing against bottom pair d-men or force tired top 4 dmen to defend that line at times which could benefit the Matthews line.
 
mapleleaf979 said:
I would keep Nylander on the 3rd line to start the playoffs, mostly to play a slight mental game with him, something i feel he needs. Main reason is to keep his ego in check. If u see hunger u can switch him onto Tavares line. Nylander's biggest weakness is his compete level...it is more embarassing to himself to dog it on the 3rd line with 2 other line mates making less money, far less pedigree, outwork him on the backcheck over and over again. This in my eyes motivates Nylander because it hits on his pride. It can also give an advantage to the Leafs to have a superstar talent on the 3rd line playing against bottom pair d-men or force tired top 4 dmen to defend that line at times which could benefit the Matthews line.
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Yeah I consider Nylander's line the 2nd line. Kerfoot's gone ice old since being paired with Tavares and the majority of Mikheyev's goals are solo missions with his crazy speed.
 
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