Nylander is already a better center than Kadri was at the same age. One can argue his faceoffs at 21 years of age is better than Kadri's current faceoff skills at 27. Foolish to think the organization is sold on him not ever being a center. Look how many years it took Kadri to be considered defensively responsible.
Not to mention Nylander literally played center at times.
It is more suitable to have Nylander at wing in the current lineup. That doesn't mean management doesn't think he can't become a center.
"Seems pretty clear". Nah
Come on dude with the Kadri comparison, he played center the whole time, absolutely nothing analogous about their "paths". Was it more "suitable" to mess up three lines so Marleau (who doesn't want to play center) could take Matthews place, instead of simply moving Willie over and adding a winger? Simple move vs changing all your lines because one guy was injured. If it was "suitable", no brainer, and yet....
I actually thought Nylander did okay at center this year, big deal about faceoffs, Marner was great on the dot too last year. I'm more interested in his positioning and compete there, he passed my eye test. But, I still think he's a question mark, and unless we failed to sign another center, he wasn't any "first" option for next year. Again, I feel quite comfortable believing the organization isn't sold on him at center, and nothing I've seen to date has caused me to revise that view. Will he be a center, maybe he would have, sure.
