William Nylander - Big Willie Style

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Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
77,840
51,503
Montreal has drafted much better than us. We've given up too many 2nd round picks.

Rose is a 2nd round pick...he looks like he'll at least be a gritty 3rd liner.

de la Rose looked great. He seemed to fill that Kopitar/Backes role on Sweden, at least for this tournament. No idea how that'll translate in the NHL but he was noticeably strong out there and it would be nice if the Leafs can fill that hole in the system with more picks along those lines.
 

Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
77,840
51,503
Good to get a first hand account. This seems to be Nylander's achilles heal early on. Not the first time this has been mentioned. Talent is NOT the question, consistent application is.

He's a high skill guy in a junior tournament. I think his work rate has to go up to be that Giroux/Kane type player, but there's a lot to work with. I don't want him being a trick player like a Kessel who has a one sided understanding of the game and doesn't want to get his mits dirty, but it's early yet in his development.
 

The Winter Soldier

Registered User
Apr 4, 2011
70,803
21,006
He's a high skill guy in a junior tournament. I think his work rate has to go up to be that Giroux/Kane type player, but there's a lot to work with. I don't want him being a trick player like a Kessel who has a one sided understanding of the game and doesn't want to get his mits dirty, but it's early yet in his development.

This is what worries me the most, if his work ethic on both sides of the puck is Kessel like. If I were the Leafs, I would find him another player to role model.

This thought is scary. I absolutely hate talented players that dog it, but live solely on getting away with the bare minimum of effort because they are so talented they can.
 

Sonny21

Registerd User
Oct 3, 2009
5,950
503
Some of us prefer honest discussion of our most high profile prospect, I mean this isn't just a fan site. We have to maintain some sort of honest discussion on players. I like that there are some that call him elite already, and some that see flaws too. No player is perfect.


He's a high skill guy in a junior tournament. I think his work rate has to go up to be that Giroux/Kane type player, but there's a lot to work with. I don't want him being a trick player like a Kessel who has a one sided understanding of the game and doesn't want to get his mits dirty, but it's early yet in his development.

Agreed.
 

Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
77,840
51,503
This is what worries me the most, if his work ethic on both sides of the puck is Kessel like. If I were the Leafs, I would find him another player to role model.

This thought is scary. I absolutely hate talented players that dog it, but live solely on getting away with the bare minimum of effort because they are so talented they can.

Yep, in an ideal world, your coach can point to a Henrik Zetterberg and tell him to just start taking notes. You have a Kessel at the top of your pyramid and I think your kids start thinking they can carry themselves that way, when in fact nobody should.
 

Epictetus

YNWA
Jan 2, 2010
16,273
377
Ontario
This thread is a complete mess right now. Way too much mod cleaning required.

Since there is overlap with the World Junior Thread, as Nylander is playing for Sweden, we will use that thread for discussion. I will move any relevant posts about Nylander and the WJC to that thread.

After the conclusion of the tournament, we will open up a new discussion thread about Nylander.

This thread is close to 1,000 posts anyway, so this will eliminate the overlap in discussion.

\Locked
 

7even

Offered and lost
Feb 1, 2012
18,569
14,126
North Carolina
Just got back from the Sweden Czech Republic game. Nylander made three or four individual rushes that really show his skill with the puck, in some cases walking through half the Czech team. The puck followed him around whenever he was out there. I believe he nearly set up a guy on a cross crease play and also flubbed on a couple of point blank opportunities. He scored a goal that turned out to be the game winner and the crowd serenaded him with a Go Leafs Go chant. The guy is clearly an extremely talented player and it's awesome to have him.

That said, he did seem to float around a little bit from time to time. Guys like Adrian Kempe and Jacob de la Rose looked a lot more mature physically, like the sturdy kind of guys you'd feel comfortable going into a seven game series with. Typical Western Conference bodies. Kind of pissed Montreal owns de la Rose.

Montreal can keep de la Rose. Decent grinder type but not much upside, IMO.
 
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