Tribute William Nylander Discussion Thread: Ya Gotta Be Blessed Edition

[saffronleaf]

21g, 21a, 42p

PPG under Keefe

Numbers will climb more once Tavares starts burying the tap ins.

Click to read more...

 

[weems]

Imagine thinking his contract was a massive overpay?

 

[Budz22]

Imagine thinking his contract was a massive overpay?

“Not yet”

 

[Legion34]

Imagine thinking his contract was a massive overpay?

Wasn’t it an “unprecedented and dramatic. Psychotically inconsistent overpay”?

 

[unitedstars87]

I’ve been very critical of Nylander not being engaged a lot of times. He has been feisty and driving play since the coaching change and our new possession style. If he plays with this pace and tenacity while continuing to develop, he will be special.

 

[Dreakmur]

Imagine thinking his contract was a massive overpay?

We paid more than we should have. That doesn’t make it a bad contract right now. It should just be better.

 

[Menzinger]

He can't stop, won't stop.

 

[joeyjojojrshabadoo]

tenacious play lately. love it

 

[A1LeafNation]

Babcock was holding him back. Smart player.

Mikheyev Tavares Nylander will be awesome.

Hopefully guys like Burke and Hrudey and Button and Poulin and whoever said he was a perimeter player get fired. HFBoards has more hockey IQ than these shit for brains analysts.

 

[Superstar]

He can't stop, won't stop.

I saw him on the PP tonight..Keefe turning him into a real player.

Edit: I meant PK.

 

[Gabriel426]

He is learning how to be more effective and his stats are showing. He will only get better once JT and Engvall are more familiar with how he plays.

 

[LeafsNation75]

If only Nylander had scored on that great chance after his first goal, that would have reminded me of Marner's goal against Carolina he had right off the faceoff.

 

[Leaf4Life79]

Nylander has completely morphed into the player we all thought he should be 'when we got him' under Keefe.. AssCock kept him in chains! I hope that schmuck never coaches another game in the NHL... I mean, he's stupid rich, I am sure he won't care either way, but still!

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Who would have thought when you give a player the freedom to play their game without the fear of being demoted from 1 mistake they would flourish...

 

[Nithoniniel]

@Leafsfan74

Just go look at the numbers. There's plenty who have gotten the same kind of deal. Here's a read for you:
Mirtle: Revisiting the question of what's truly a fair...

It was an average deal. I have absolutely no idea how you think there's no one getting a similar contract. There's like 15 players in that vicinity after an ELC remotely similar.

 

[18leafsfan18]

We paid more than we should have. That doesn’t make it a bad contract right now. It should just be better.

Dubas just isn't allowed to get any credit from some fans.

 

[Drytoast]

Imagine being so insecure about William nylander's worth that ya gotta keep making these threads?

 

[Drytoast]

Dubas just isn't allowed to get any credit from some fans.

Dude we lost our first rounder this year because dubas overpaid

 

[18leafsfan18]

Dude we lost our first rounder this year because dubas overpaid

Lou signed Marleau. Not Dubas.

The comparables as shown many many times show he was paid what he deserved.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Here's the thing with Nylander. Does the increased point pace really indicate a significant change in his play? To some degree, it certainly does. He's doing even better with Tavares than he did with Matthews, and that was a top duo for years. But a large part of that increase comes from the PP, where he's scoring at a three times higher pace for second best on the team, top 10 in the league. Is that a huge step forward for him? Well, we are talking about a player who led the league in primary points relative to ice time in his rookie season. He was simply not used that way since then.

People talk about improved hustle, and I agree that it's been there. He looks more confident, and when he's confident he has that puck hound mentality that almost all the great players have. However, that doesn't really impact the PP where he's seen a large part of the increase. There's also the net front presence, where he's been terrific this season. However, he went to the net a lot even in last years wasted season. There's just a huge difference between arriving there as an option for Tavares instead of Marleau.

So while I do think that he's better now than ever, I don't think it's a significant change in him personally. We've just paid him what teams usually pay one of their top offense drivers, and then put him in a secondary role.

The thing about opportunity is that if you give it to one player, you take it away from another. Here's where that is still a good thing. Getting bang for buck matters. So putting Nylander in that spot not only helps our on-ice results, but we also get more out of him for our cap dollars. PP production costs. Let's say that Mikheyev had gotten a full season (let's ignore the injury for this example) at that spot. He might add 20 more points, and become millions more expensive against the cap. By using Nylander there, we get the most out of his $7M while making our depth and support pieces cheaper.

This is how we should have used him even last season. Who cares about who deserves what? The only thing that matters is what's best for the team, and we let having him earn it overshadow that.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Dude we lost our first rounder this year because dubas overpaid

We lost a first rounder because Lou signed an absolute anchor that was on the verge of costing us good roster players. The maximum you can argue that Matthews is overpaid is $1M, and that's a huge reach. Give us that cap space, and nothing would have changed. Marleau is still an anchor, he'll still put us in a f-ed up cap situation, and we'd still need to lose something of value because of it.

The lengths some go to complain about Dubas astounds me.

 

[sxvnert]

We lost a first rounder because Lou signed an absolute anchor that was on the verge of costing us good roster players. The maximum you can argue that Matthews is overpaid is $1M, and that's a huge reach. Give us that cap space, and nothing would have changed. Marleau is still an anchor, he'll still put us in a f-ed up cap situation, and we'd still need to lose something of value because of it.

The lengths some go to complain about Dubas astounds me.

and the cap space wasn't raised to what the league originally promised. An extra 1-1.5m could have gone a long way this season.

 

[dangomon]

Most noticeable difference to me, the guy hasn't stopped smiling in weeks. Seems like the type of guy that can keep a bench/team energetic. He's been celebrating goals like Dermott when he scored his first. He looks genuinely enthused to be playing with this team and playing so well.

 

[saltming]

Here's the thing with Nylander. Does the increased point pace really indicate a significant change in his play? To some degree, it certainly does. He's doing even better with Tavares than he did with Matthews, and that was a top duo for years. But a large part of that increase comes from the PP, where he's scoring at a three times higher pace for second best on the team, top 10 in the league. Is that a huge step forward for him? Well, we are talking about a player who led the league in primary points relative to ice time in his rookie season. He was simply not used that way since then.

People talk about improved hustle, and I agree that it's been there. He looks more confident, and when he's confident he has that puck hound mentality that almost all the great players have. However, that doesn't really impact the PP where he's seen a large part of the increase. There's also the net front presence, where he's been terrific this season. However, he went to the net a lot even in last years wasted season. There's just a huge difference between arriving there as an option for Tavares instead of Marleau.

So while I do think that he's better now than ever, I don't think it's a significant change in him personally. We've just paid him what teams usually pay one of their top offense drivers, and then put him in a secondary role.

The thing about opportunity is that if you give it to one player, you take it away from another. Here's where that is still a good thing. Getting bang for buck matters. So putting Nylander in that spot not only helps our on-ice results, but we also get more out of him for our cap dollars. PP production costs. Let's say that Mikheyev had gotten a full season (let's ignore the injury for this example) at that spot. He might add 20 more points, and become millions more expensive against the cap. By using Nylander there, we get the most out of his $7M while making our depth and support pieces cheaper.

This is how we should have used him even last season. Who cares about who deserves what? The only thing that matters is what's best for the team, and we let having him earn it overshadow that.

I would say there is one change; he is stronger. His stick is heavy and moving him off his skates is very difficult. His playing style is mostly the same, but the added strength is showing.

 

[Drytoast]

I absolutely adore how you can't realize when you are getting f***ed.

Binnington, when asked to take a reasonable bridge, worked with the club because, you know...he wants the team to stay together.

And he just carried them to a cup.

NHL Free Agency: Binnington signs two-year, $8.8 million deal - ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
“I’m happy to get this deal done with the St. Louis Blues,” said Binnington in a release from the team. “To the city of St. Louis, thank you for welcoming me in and trusting me to do me. I’m excited and motivated to keep doing my job and keep bringing success to the St. Louis Blues organization.”

"After re-signing Jordan Binnington to a 2 year $4.4M AAV, the #Blues now have $7,120,406 in projected cap space, with a roster of 22 (12F/8D/2G)"

If he were here in Toronto, even without the cup we would have given him Carey Price money because, you know...we pay out league leading salaries for promises to come!

Binnington JUST WON THE CUP. And worked with the team to allow them cap space to sign other players. He didn't need to gobble it all up himself.

Would Marner sign a bridge deal to help us over the Marleau hump?

Oh that's right. They discussed bridge deal. Would have been what? 9 mil?
Toronto Maple Leafs: Rumour of a 3 Year Marner Deal “On the Table”

And before you say (that's all speculative) If it were anything in the ball park of what Binnington signed for, the Leafs would have locked him in gladly. (Or they would be considered the dumbest f***ing bunch in the league) Because signing Mitch at a reasonable bridge deal would allow them to retain Marleau and would have saved themselves their first round draft pick.

Binnington won the damn cup. After that you could honestly pay the man all the cap in the world and I'd be fine with it, he's already fullfilled his duty to the organization at that point.

Marner hasn't won a round yet. Neither has Mathews or Nylander.

Binnington just won the cup and was ok with a 2 year 4 mil bridge. A contract comparable to what we need to pay our 2nd and third liners.

Marner won jack shit and said "FU, pay me."

There is no argument here regarding the greed of our stars. You should be mad because you got f***ed and in the end it hurts the organization's ability to retain or acquire talent. They care about themselves. They don't care about the Leafs.

Leaf fans.

We've regressed this year. And come this summer, we will need to do yet another dance and shuffle of players, bringing in more fringe cast a ways and has beens to fill out the roster around 4 people making 40+ mil a season.

That's what's coming.

Enjoy.