William Nylander named Rookie of the Month (October)
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Willy nilly is a good player.
Tight competition. Could have given it to laine or matthews and id have been ok with it.
Tight competition. Could have given it to laine or matthews and id have been ok with it.
Nithoniniel
Registered User
I realized a year or two ago that Nylander is the kind of player that you really don't want to assign an upside and potential, or even a comparison. Any time expectations seem set, he finds a way to knock them down. This year the cerebral, sometimes passive player has suddenly become a hard worker, on top of the deadly offense.
pezcore
Registered User
Ive seen about 5 Leafs game this year so far and aside from the season opener vs Ottawa, I thought he was the better rookie in all of them.
johnny_rudeboy
Registered User
The drama queen rumors pre-draft comes from him first of all being very good looking, super skilled and the son of a guy with a 15 year NHL career. Of course he rubbed some people the wrong way, he was the kid who had it all. And he and his father also had him change teams midseason to get more playing time. Apparently all that made him a diva.
Now, in the real world William Nylander has been nothing but a hard worker and very focused to fulfil his still untapped potential.
And as the poster above me said, it is really no point in setting an upside or potential to him considering he got all the raw tools needed to climb to the very top. He is already or stand a good chance of reaching elite status when it comes to hockey sense/IQ, skating, passing and shooting ability, creativity and just as importantly, the drive to constantly improve him self.
There is really no obstacles or him lacking something that will decide just how good he can become. It is all up to him. I dont view his size as a problem at all btw.
Edit: Some one said he is the forward version of Karlsson, and that is not a bad comparison.
Now, in the real world William Nylander has been nothing but a hard worker and very focused to fulfil his still untapped potential.
And as the poster above me said, it is really no point in setting an upside or potential to him considering he got all the raw tools needed to climb to the very top. He is already or stand a good chance of reaching elite status when it comes to hockey sense/IQ, skating, passing and shooting ability, creativity and just as importantly, the drive to constantly improve him self.
There is really no obstacles or him lacking something that will decide just how good he can become. It is all up to him. I dont view his size as a problem at all btw.
Edit: Some one said he is the forward version of Karlsson, and that is not a bad comparison.
Sundinisagod
****
Good post Johnny.
I was comparing him to Karlsson back when we drafted him. Right now he reminds me a bit of Mogilny as well. Hard guy to nail down a comparable though.
Anth93
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- Jul 2, 2012
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Nylander has been better than Matthews, quite comfortably.. Which says a lot about Nylander.
I've seen more skill from Nylander and Matthews these past 10 games than I've seen in 10 years of leaf games. For the first time in a long time, the Leafs have two superstars.
I've seen more skill from Nylander and Matthews these past 10 games than I've seen in 10 years of leaf games. For the first time in a long time, the Leafs have two superstars.
Muston Atthews
Bunch of Bangerz
To be honest, I think it came mostly from how his dad was choosing to dictate his career and all the moving around. It also fit with the narrative he was a selfish player on the ice (I'd say he had bad habits, but I don't think he was selfish). Glad that most of that stuff has been ironed out and I am very glad to see him excelling. Let's hope he's the third great Swede to wear the Blue and White, we have a pretty good history with talent out of there (although Nylander is primarily a product of USA travel teams). I know Michael managed to also rub some people the wrong way in his short OHL stint, although none of that was put onto Alex.
Dod93Cityt
Do You Believe In Ghosts?
No, but only because the NHL is going to push Nylander as the leagues sex symbol
Is that Joey Wheeler?
StupidityKills
Registered User
Chimpradamus
Registered User
This isn't coming as any surprise. In the WJC last christmas, Nylander got injured and couldn't play, so his younger brother (Alexander) dominated instead. This was in a situation when all from the swedish camp knew Willam Nylander would completely dominate the tournament. He was that good, the coaches and the swedish hockey media were just in awe during practices. Matthews, Laine? Meh. Nylander was the star there. If he wasn't injured, this wouldn't even be a surprise.
So, he dominated in the AHL and played in the NHL with a couple of scrubs and actually made them look legit. He has found chemistry with basically any player.
His zone entry control is unbelievable, it's crazy good. Talk about refusing to dump the puck in and I love it. That's modern hockey. He just evades everybody and makes it look like a stroll. His wrist shot is unbelievable, his slapper is great, his passing extremely good, his vision is elite, his skating is elite, his stickhandling is elite... do I need to go on?
Although I have to admit I didn't think he would be this good this early. That's because he plays with other elite players thinking like him, only he is the one carrying the line. Yup, he's a line carrier, spectaculary so and there are very few of those.
What else could you expect from a kid raised by Michael Nylander, a very smart, shifty playmaker, a possession driven forward that doesn't get much attention at all for his career, especially when he was part of probably the best line in the NHL at that time, the Straka - Nylander - Jagr line. Both his sons play the game like him, only they're Michael Nylander 2.0. Both Nylander brothers will be elite players I think. At least one of them will be a star.
He has also improved his defensive game, of course increasing his overall performance. Interestingly enough, he excels at wing, but his natural position is at center. The question is if Toronto will play him as a #1 winger, a #1 center or a #2 center, where Matthews and Nylander will be a great punch for Toronto for a long time. And then they have Marner too. That's sick.
So, he dominated in the AHL and played in the NHL with a couple of scrubs and actually made them look legit. He has found chemistry with basically any player.
His zone entry control is unbelievable, it's crazy good. Talk about refusing to dump the puck in and I love it. That's modern hockey. He just evades everybody and makes it look like a stroll. His wrist shot is unbelievable, his slapper is great, his passing extremely good, his vision is elite, his skating is elite, his stickhandling is elite... do I need to go on?
Although I have to admit I didn't think he would be this good this early. That's because he plays with other elite players thinking like him, only he is the one carrying the line. Yup, he's a line carrier, spectaculary so and there are very few of those.
What else could you expect from a kid raised by Michael Nylander, a very smart, shifty playmaker, a possession driven forward that doesn't get much attention at all for his career, especially when he was part of probably the best line in the NHL at that time, the Straka - Nylander - Jagr line. Both his sons play the game like him, only they're Michael Nylander 2.0. Both Nylander brothers will be elite players I think. At least one of them will be a star.
He has also improved his defensive game, of course increasing his overall performance. Interestingly enough, he excels at wing, but his natural position is at center. The question is if Toronto will play him as a #1 winger, a #1 center or a #2 center, where Matthews and Nylander will be a great punch for Toronto for a long time. And then they have Marner too. That's sick.
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Ulysses31
Registered User
Oh really, which other numbers? How do they compare to Werenski's? Oh you didn't check? Why am I not surprised?
Here's the possession numbers from hockeyanalysis:
Nylander: 56.8% CF
Werenski: 54.6% CF
Then consider that Werenski is playing comp as a top pair D, and Nylander is getting easier zone starts.
It's not that hard. Points per game:
Nylander: 1.1
Werenski: 1.0
Nylander's better, right?
johnny_rudeboy
Registered User
Oh really, which other numbers? How do they compare to Werenski's? Oh you didn't check? Why am I not surprised?
Here's the possession numbers from hockeyanalysis:
Nylander: 56.8% CF
Werenski: 54.6% CF
Then consider that Werenski is playing comp as a top pair D, and Nylander is getting easier zone starts.
It's not that hard. Points per game:
Nylander: 1.1
Werenski: 1.0
Nylander's better, right?
Stop picking your nose, but yes, Nylander is better. But Werenski is also very good.
At least 2 superstars.
In all honestly Marner has been playing just as good as Nylander but isn't getting the points to show it (I blame Bozak, I want Kadri and Marner to play together). And in a few ways Marner has been a better player then Nylander (blocking shots, for one)
God knows that Sweden needs goid forwards for the future.
Should obviously have been part of the WC team too.
Btw. Is there a better player in the NHL when it comes to taking the puck from his own zone through traffic into the offensive zone?
In the games I've seen he's done that pretty much at will. Such speed and "grace".
Just waiting for another brutal mid-ice hit, like in the WJC...
Should obviously have been part of the WC team too.
Btw. Is there a better player in the NHL when it comes to taking the puck from his own zone through traffic into the offensive zone?
In the games I've seen he's done that pretty much at will. Such speed and "grace".
Just waiting for another brutal mid-ice hit, like in the WJC...
No, but only because the NHL is going to push Nylander as the leagues sex symbol
Looking at the middle pic and did the same test on myself just now, feeling like a complete cow....then again, I'm 39... :/
How many of Werenski's games have you seen? The Werenski backers in general have seen a lot more of Nylander than the other way around. I personally love watching the young Leafs, but I think you can infer from the comments that few Nylander backers have seen any of Werenski's games.
"we know from the stats" - no, the stats are not in Nylander's favor.
"Nylander is better" - says another guy who hasn't seen a single Werenski game.
Both Nylander and Werenski are going to be amazing players. Arguing which one is better at this point is kind of pointless, 1 is a forward and 1 is a defencemen. Pretty tough to compare and not a worthwhile discussion at this point in my opinion.
teravaineSAROS
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- Jul 29, 2015
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teravaineSAROS
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- Jul 29, 2015
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There's no point dude. All up until the game where Laine scored a hattrick against Toronto, we had Leafs fans in the Laine thread constantly yapping about how good Matthews is and how Laine is a one-trick-pony and bad defensively just because he's a sniper which is clearly not the case.
Ulysses31
Registered User
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