2 out of 3 seasons isn't consistent.
Besides, there's a lot of players that were "consistent" until they weren't. Neal was a consistent 20 goal scorer, actually consistent, for 10 years. Now he sucks after one season after getting his long-term contract.
You’re right, it isn’t, and Nylander sucked in December and most of January... That’s two months of play after missing all of camp and the first two months of the season. You’re free to interpret that how you’d like... But... You can also understand why those who’ve watched virtually his entire pro career might be pretty confident in his ability going forward. Again, no question he struggled out of the gate, but he’s gotten better. A lot better. Now that he’s looking more like the player of old, it’s not really a thing anymore.
Nylander chose not to negotiate a bridge and chose to sit out. His punishment was falling on his face out of the gate (with 10 million in his pocket) .... but it’s kind all a thing of the past. His numbers this year will be an outlier provided he’s healthy and it’s a foot note on this season. He’ll will flirt with 70 and 80 points a few times in the next few years at 6.9m on a rising cap, and all these kids who blew their load on two months of hockey are going to look pretty silly.
Edit: re; James Neal - lol. The point of an example is to present it as likely, yet you’ve used an enigma in Neal? :headscratch: