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Tribute William Nylander Discussion Thread: Ya Gotta Be Blessed Edition

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Menzinger said:
Funny thing is that its not just the fans. 3-4 weeks ago the HNIC panel flat out said Nylander doesnt hit 30 goals this season. Which is utterly nonsensical

He will always have that target on his back, unfortunately
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I just can't grasp the hate. Out of the zillion athletes that have had a contract dispute or entered the league with some flaws in their game, I don't get why it became so personal.

Regardless if he made a poor choice as a young adult to hold out, it still doesn't define him as a human.

Same with Marner this year. You can argue he made a selfish choice, but my goodness, because he is struggling a bit doesn't mean he's a terrible person who should be shot to the sun
 
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Menzinger said:
Funny thing is that its not just the fans. 3-4 weeks ago the HNIC panel flat out said Nylander doesnt hit 30 goals this season. Which is utterly nonsensical

He will always have that target on his back, unfortunately
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I think you said it perfectly earlier. Once a reputation sets in, it's almost impossible for a player to change it.
 
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Pyromaniac said:
People in this fanbase and in the media have basically been attacking Nylander for the last 18 months or so. It seems some of Nylander's defenders think that Marner deserves some of the same crap which is disappointing.
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Yeah that's my read too. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bit worried about Marner lately and I honestly don't think he's been as good as his point totals indicate this season. That doesn't really change my overall opinion on him. He's an elite young player, one of the best playmakers to come up in the cap era, and an absolute treat to have on our team. I don't understand how we as a fans can go through the embarrassing, no talent decade to begin the cap era and then not appreciate having someone like him.

William Nylander has shown that he's a great player himself. He looks like someone who could flirt with 35 goals, 90 points through his prime for us. However, that doesn't make Marner worse in comparison. It just makes Nylander good.

Edit: I really need to start to let my writing keep up with my brain, or at least proofread my posts before I post.
 
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Jojalu said:
I just can't grasp the hate. Out of the zillion athletes that have had a contract dispute or entered the league with some flaws in their game, I don't get why it became so personal.
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I think the media bias goes all the way back to guys who didn’t like his dad, and hockey Canada followers in the old boys network who were pissed he took his two talented kids out of the Canadian system and back to Europe to play growing up. Like they didn’t have the right.

I think they see this as an existential shot at how they run the Junior program. We saw the same thing with Canadian kids going to US College hockey instead of Junior. And there is no bigger Old-Boys than Cherry and our our former coach Babcock.

willie could score 35 and if Nick Ritchie has a good shift, we will be hearing about how they could have picked the Canadian kid, instead of the kid from Calgary.
 
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Nylander gets flack from me because I think Nylander can be as good as Marner all day long. Not a 60 point player he has been. He is having a good year no doubt but Nylander is not an easy player to play with. The chemistry with Matthews and Tavares comes and goes. My take on this is because Nylander can be different players from game to game. Whether his work ethic is down or up, whether he is playmaker first, shoot first, hybrid of the 2, etc. He uses his defenseman alot and can look off his wingers, protect the puck, cutback and who knows what he will do next, including a random bullet pass his linemates are not expecting at that moment. He has a few versions of what he will bring and its tough to read for his linemates. The Tampa and Florida games from Nylander, probably the best 2 ive seen from him as a Leaf.
 
mapleleaf979 said:
Nylander gets flack from me because I think Nylander can be as good as Marner all day long. Not a 60 point player he has been. He is having a good year no doubt but Nylander is not an easy player to play with. The chemistry with Matthews and Tavares comes and goes. My take on this is because Nylander can be different players from game to game. Whether his work ethic is down or up, whether he is playmaker first, shoot first, hybrid of the 2, etc. He uses his defenseman alot and can look off his wingers, protect the puck, cutback and who knows what he will do next, including a random bullet pass his linemates are not expecting at that moment. He has a few versions of what he will bring and its tough to read for his linemates. The Tampa and Florida games from Nylander, probably the best 2 ive seen from him as a Leaf.
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I am not sure how that is on Nylander that his linemates are not ready for a pass. The fact that he will use the point, or look to the point to fire a pass cross ice to an open linemate after drawing the other team to the point is what makes him so difficult to defend.

If you are on a line with him you simply drive the net ready for a pass, and if he decides to shoot go for the rebound, or if he sends it to the point, go for a tip or a rebound from that shot
 
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mapleleaf979 said:
Nylander gets flack from me because I think Nylander can be as good as Marner all day long. Not a 60 point player he has been. He is having a good year no doubt but Nylander is not an easy player to play with. The chemistry with Matthews and Tavares comes and goes. My take on this is because Nylander can be different players from game to game. Whether his work ethic is down or up, whether he is playmaker first, shoot first, hybrid of the 2, etc. He uses his defenseman alot and can look off his wingers, protect the puck, cutback and who knows what he will do next, including a random bullet pass his linemates are not expecting at that moment. He has a few versions of what he will bring and its tough to read for his linemates. The Tampa and Florida games from Nylander, probably the best 2 ive seen from him as a Leaf.
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Nylander's been a PPG player since Keefe took over and could easily be higher if JT finished some of those tap ins when his hand still wasn't right.

So assuming he keeps it up moving forward/ still gets better we could be looking at 82-90+ points a year from our 4th best player... I'm extremely okay with that.

Last year was on him, but we can't deny the fact that Babcock held back his game more than anybody else.
 
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That Tavares line needs its own Hyman. I wanted to try Tima, but the hockey gods hate me.
 
ZEBROA said:
That Tavares line needs its own Hyman. I wanted to try Tima, but the hockey gods hate me.
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Kerfoot was at his best centering the third line. He is a liability on this line, or perhaps more fairly, playing a role that doesn't suit his skill set. He and Willie have zero chemistry too.
 
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Nifty Sauce said:
Hockey gods dont hate you, Tima is not a player that should play on that line. Actually want to see more of what Spezza can do on that line out of curiosity, otherwise Mik feels like a good fit longterm.
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Tima and Nylander play great toghether. Tima could get some energy into that line. Now we will never know. Underrated player and i hope it will show in Detroit, and that he get a more creative role, he is not a checking line player, he just took the only role thats was given. Anywho they need another player then Kerfoot. A hardworking boardbadger.
 
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Nifty Sauce said:
Hockey gods dont hate you, Tima is not a player that should play on that line. Actually want to see more of what Spezza can do on that line out of curiosity, otherwise Mik feels like a good fit longterm.
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Now that Nylander is LW and Kapanen is playing well, I'd like to see Kapanen take the 2nd RW spot in the top 6. Kapanen hasn't played well in the top 6 before so I'm not holding my breath, but the way he's been playing of late and given our limitations at wing due to injury, I don't think it would hurt to give him a good look there.

Doubt this happens, but I think it could work well:

Nylander - Matthews - Kapanen
Hyman - Tavares - Marner
Engvall - Spezza - Kerfoot
Clifford - Gauthier - Malgin

Once Mikheyev is back:

Nylander - Matthews - Kapanen/Mikheyev
Hyman - Tavares - Marner
Engvall/Spezza - Kerfoot - Kapanen/Mikheyev
Clifford - Engvall/Spezza - Gauthier
 
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Easily the most likable player on this years roster.

Said in pre-season I am going to dominate (or something to that effect) and is doing his part.

His (now clearly overpaid) buddies look like they couldn't give one fck.

Awesome for him. Love it.
 
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If for the past few games your number 4 offensive player is on average the best, and the close second is campbell and hyman. You got a problem
Edit: Clarification
 
So happy for him for hitting 30g after what he went through the last little while.
Never seen a homegrown Leafs player that got ripped apart more than Nylander has from the Media and Fans.
 
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wingman75 said:
Easily the most likable player on this years roster.

Said in pre-season I am going to dominate (or something to that effect) and is doing his part.

His (now clearly overpaid) buddies look like they couldn't give one fck.

Awesome for him. Love it.
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It's between him and campbell and hyman for me.
 
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I can realistically see us trading him away this off season. It’s too bad cause he has proven to have great value. Either him or Marner’s is going to be gone, it’s too bad it will probably be him being sacrificed out of the 4 going for some type of defence overhaul.
 
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Wendelstache said:
So happy for him for hitting 30g after what he went through the last little while.
Never seen a homegrown Leafs player that got ripped apart more than Nylander has from the Media and Fans.
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Yeah, I love to see him finally getting the praise he deserves and shutting up the idiotic haters. I also love finally seeing the golden boy Marner is getting some scrutiny.

michi510 said:
I can realistically see us trading him away this off season. It’s too bad cause he has proven to have great value. Either him or Marner’s is going to be gone, it’s too bad it will probably be him being sacrificed out of the 4 going for some type of defence overhaul.
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If they trade Nylander in the offseason I might finally actually stop watching the team.
 
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