Tribute William Nylander Discussion Thread: Ya Gotta Be Blessed Edition

[Walshy7]

I think Leafsnation just love to blame and crap on someone. Just so happened Babs didn’t like Willie too.

this, there was a big 3 and to not appear bias the media felt they had to hound one of them.

-Matthews is a generational goal scorer best advised not hound him
-Marner is elite playmaker and hometown kid better believe don't hound him
-Nylander is a swede unlikely to rattle any cages ripping on him, seems soft (he can be sometimes) and not quite as good as the other 2. BINGO release the hounds

 

[CelticDruid]

Maple Leaf Hot Stove.

Austin Matthews on Nylander when he showed up after missing camp last year.



You should’ve seen him when he came in last year after six months of just practicing and working out. Just working out. He was an absolute mountain. He was so big. He was shredded. It was too big, yeah. You’re working out for six or seven months and you’re not playing games. You kind of lose weight playing, right? You’re skating every night. You lose a couple of pounds sweating a bunch. He came in so big and I was like, “My goodness, this guy is an animal.”

So many posters ragged on Nylander for being out of shape and some actually called him fat.

 

[IPS]

I think Leafsnation just love to blame and crap on someone. Just so happened Babs didn’t like Willie too.

Quite remarkable how his "demotion" to the 3rd line completely warped everyone's perception of him.

Mix that in with how most people let the media do their thinking for them and you got a bunch of nonsense like Nylander being weak on the boards, lazy, etc...

The fact that Nylander never saw the top PP unit under Babcock should tell people what kind of idiot we were dealing with.

 

[BAM]

Quite remarkable how his "demotion" to the 3rd line completely warped everyone's perception of him.

Mix that in with how most people let the media do their thinking for them and you got a bunch of nonsense like Nylander being weak on the boards, lazy, etc...

The fact that Nylander never saw the top PP unit under Babcock should tell people what kind of idiot we were dealing with.

Especially when he's the best Leaf at zone entries and that was one of our biggest problems on the first unit.

 

[ACC1224]

Maple Leaf Hot Stove.

Austin Matthews on Nylander when he showed up after missing camp last year.



You should’ve seen him when he came in last year after six months of just practicing and working out. Just working out. He was an absolute mountain. He was so big. He was shredded. It was too big, yeah. You’re working out for six or seven months and you’re not playing games. You kind of lose weight playing, right? You’re skating every night. You lose a couple of pounds sweating a bunch. He came in so big and I was like, “My goodness, this guy is an animal.”

So many posters ragged on Nylander for being out of shape and some actually called him fat.

Think it was more he wasn't in game shape. I don't recall anyone calling him fat but there are all kinds of wacky opinions here.
I do recall him at times hanging onto the boards at one point because he was gassed.

Ancient history now though.

 

[Walshy7]

Think it was more he wasn't in game shape. I don't recall anyone calling him fat but there are all kinds of wacky opinions here.
I do recall him at times hanging onto the boards at one point because he was gassed.

Ancient history no though.

there definitely were a handful of posters saying he was fat and posts like "so not only was he fighting for more than he deserved he wasn't training either" a pretty small minority of the more outrageous posters though. But as you say ancient history

100% wasnt in game shape and that is not something that is possible to train for, an argument can be made that's his fault for sitting out but he did sit out and cant have possibly been in any game shape. there were 2 party's involved in negotiations not just willy too.

 

[Gary Nylund]

My favourite player is a beauty!

 

[Walshy7]

My favourite player is a beauty!

Matthews for me but Willy is rocketing up the charts

 

[ULF_55]

Not sure why he gets the soft tag so often.

How many Leafs forwards actually go physical on the boards to retrieve the puck?

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

Maple Leaf Hot Stove.

Austin Matthews on Nylander when he showed up after missing camp last year.


You should’ve seen him when he came in last year after six months of just practicing and working out. Just working out. He was an absolute mountain. He was so big. He was shredded. It was too big, yeah. You’re working out for six or seven months and you’re not playing games. You kind of lose weight playing, right? You’re skating every night. You lose a couple of pounds sweating a bunch. He came in so big and I was like, “My goodness, this guy is an animal.”

So many posters ragged on Nylander for being out of shape and some actually called him fat.

Nylander has a few pics floating online where you can see the dude is absolutely shredded. I remember when Ferraro shut down Hayes when he had to explain theres a difference between being in shape vs being in game shape.

Nylander is a strong man. You can see this easily when he's engaged in board battles.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Quite remarkable how his "demotion" to the 3rd line completely warped everyone's perception of him.

Mix that in with how most people let the media do their thinking for them and you got a bunch of nonsense like Nylander being weak on the boards, lazy, etc...

The fact that Nylander never saw the top PP unit under Babcock should tell people what kind of idiot we were dealing with.

that was hilarious coaching. Nylander and Matthews were killing it at the end of the regular season, and Babcock just randomly decided to throw Nylander on the 3rd line and promote Kapanen for the playoffs. With a full year of Keefe, I wouldn't be surprised to see around 40 goals and 85 points for Nylander, possibly even better.

 

[Menzinger]

Not sure why he gets the soft tag so often.

How many Leafs forwards actually go physical on the boards to retrieve the puck?

Once a player gets a label, especiallyearly on in their career -thats all people see, no matter what the player does on the ice.

I agree though, its strange. Particularly given Nylander i think still leads the league in front of net goals

 

[Menzinger]

Making a lot of people eat some serious crow and that's the best kind of crow. Glad Dubas stuck with him and didn't panic trade away a top end talent like that.

Funny enough that if Nylander had pulled what Marner did on the 2nd goal against last night, he would be crucified and we'd have to read about 50 trade proposals and national news clips of that play. It's weird how it works sometimes.

I hope he can keep the hot hand down the stretch.

Its definitely (or should be) a sobering reminder to some that folks shouldnt make definitive statements about a player based on small sample sizes of play.

The "He's a 50 point player" posts were particularly cringe worthy.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Nylander has a few pics floating online where you can see the dude is absolutely shredded. I remember when Ferraro shut down Hayes when he had to explain theres a difference between being in shape vs being in game shape.

Nylander is a strong man. You can see this easily when he's engaged in board battles.

Martin St Louis said the same thing. Some other high-profile former players did too.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Now would be the time you trade Nylander if you could get a very good 1st. pairing, long term on low cap hit defender, or on their ELC.

I don't think Hughes or Makar are avilable though.

You don't trade that kinda talent. You will always lose. He is starting to get it now. and we need it especially when Mitch goes into the dumpper like right now. He might even become a centre for us in a year or two or three when JT moves to left wing. He is making strides all the time. You can see his confidence is up. He is trending up where he might even start to dominate games on his own completely.

 

[stickty111]

 

[1specter]

this, there was a big 3 and to not appear bias the media felt they had to hound one of them.

-Matthews is a generational goal scorer best advised not hound him
-Marner is elite playmaker and hometown kid better believe don't hound him
-Nylander is a swede unlikely to rattle any cages ripping on him, seems soft (he can be sometimes) and not quite as good as the other 2. BINGO release the hounds

Ironically I think Nylander is the most well-rounded of the 3. He has the best natural defensive positioning/awareness of the 3 IMO, and is also a good blend of goal scorer and playmaker, whereas the other two are significantly better in one aspect than the other. Also has a nice mix of size and skill and is more durable than the other two.

 

[stickty111]

Nylander has a few pics floating online where you can see the dude is absolutely shredded. I remember when Ferraro shut down Hayes when he had to explain theres a difference between being in shape vs being in game shape.

Nylander is a strong man. You can see this easily when he's engaged in board battles.

Hayes really embarassed himself here. Good on Ferraro for calling him out.

 

[kb]

Its definitely (or should be) a sobering reminder to some that folks shouldnt make definitive statements about a player based on small sample sizes of play.

The "He's a 50 point player" posts were particularly cringe worthy.

Oh they were praying for him to fail.

 

[Menzinger]

That Pronger quote is absolutely bonkers....

The guy used to work for the leagues Player Safety office. What a joke

 

[ACC1224]

Ironically I think Nylander is the most well-rounded of the 3. He has the best natural defensive positioning/awareness of the 3 IMO, and is also a good blend of goal scorer and playmaker, whereas the other two are significantly better in one aspect than the other. Also has a nice mix of size and skill and is more durable than the other two.

Just needs a better agent.

 

[43Kadri43]

Ironically I think Nylander is the most well-rounded of the 3. He has the best natural defensive positioning/awareness of the 3 IMO, and is also a good blend of goal scorer and playmaker, whereas the other two are significantly better in one aspect than the other. Also has a nice mix of size and skill and is more durable than the other two.

I may have agreed prior to this season, but Matthews has been a legitimate two-way beast this year. Even then, his tracked defensive metrics have always been phenomenal; his macro results have finally caught up.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Once a player gets a label, especiallyearly on in their career -thats all people see, no matter what the player does on the ice.

I agree though, its strange. Particularly given Nylander i think still leads the league in front of net goals

As far as I'm concerned, he has a new label after being the only player to voluntarily take to the ice the day after the zamboni game. Did shooting drills and scored a beauty the next game too. That young man has character.

 

[saffronleaf]

That Pronger quote is absolutely bonkers....

The guy used to work for the leagues Player Safety office. What a joke

He used to actually do this kind of crap all the time.

 

[DopeyFish]

Nylander has a few pics floating online where you can see the dude is absolutely shredded. I remember when Ferraro shut down Hayes when he had to explain theres a difference between being in shape vs being in game shape.

Nylander is a strong man. You can see this easily when he's engaged in board battles.

Nylander is a fitness freak and it bothers me people don't even recognize that

Whenever you hear someone talk about who puts in the most work on the team, the answer a lot of the time is Willy. Always in the gym. A lot of it obviously comes from his dad who was the same way. But they just see he plays a very elegant style and they call him soft.

Hell Matthews just said it himself on spitting chiclets