Is Nylander Better Than Tavares At This Point?

[Smif]

We paid a guy $11 million for 76 points to allow more goals scored against him when he was on the ice than for, and got a slow guy who brings zero heart and leadership in return. 41 players scored more points than him, most for much cheaper.

He might win a faceoff though...

In a JT vs Nylander thread you bring up "zero heart and leadership" against...Tavares???

 

[123offtheglass]

Nylander had the better season & I think he'll get even better which is why I'd give him the edge the next couple seasons as well, even with JT bouncing back.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Consistency, effort, defence, leadership....

Ah, yes, the intangibles. Even if they were all true, you could probably say the same about Spezza. They don't, by themselves, make him the better player.

 

[AvroArrow]

Ainec.

 

[Skullz]

No debate whatsoever. Willy is far superior.

 

[Stephen]

JT’s foot speed is often cited as an issue but sometimes his hands aren’t very good either. Spezza can’t really move either but his handles are silky smooth and he can still demonstrate his high skills. With JT there’s just times when the puck is just unpredictable coming off his stick.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

man it would be cool if just for one day, like the day we finally start the playoffs, we could stop shitting on any player who hasn't reached out expectations

part of bringing in John was to be a 2nd C matchup issue during a 7 game series...that depth scoring will be key...let's see how he fare in this series before we officially start talking about buy outs or Robidas Island.

 

[Mickey Marner]

JT’s foot speed is often cited as an issue but sometimes his hands aren’t very good either. Spezza can’t really move either but his handles are silky smooth and he can still demonstrate his high skills. With JT there’s just times when the puck is just unpredictable coming off his stick.

He can no longer stick handle and skate in unison. He's either moving his hands or his feet, never both together.

 

[ToDavid]

Nylander is the more talented player, but I think that was probably true last year as well. For Nylander the issue has always been consistency and effort. I like hearing that he was pissed off about the way he was playing, because it means he's paying attention.

Who is "better"? I would say it's a coin flip at the moment and could change night to night. JT plays a harder position, he rarely takes a night off, and has the burden of captaining the team. Nylander is more skilled, especially his footspeed which is huge these days.

 

[Magic Man]

I think JT has been pretty consistent in his career. Nylander before this season has not been able to maintain this level of play. I think he will likely maintain a similar pace going forward and maybe even expand on it, he's in his prime years now. But, I think we know what we're going to get from JT so it's up to Nylander to keep up and make this competitive over the next few years.

This season it has been close. JT is a rock on faceoffs, that's a big advantage and could tip the scales.

 

[WillyC]

I think Willy Styles is pretty much where JT was, when he was Nylander’s age.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Yes. A bit of unfair comparison though given their substantial age difference.

 

[keonsbitterness]

man it would be cool if just for one day, like the day we finally start the playoffs, we could stop shitting on any player who hasn't reached out expectations

part of bringing in John was to be a 2nd C matchup issue during a 7 game series...that depth scoring will be key...let's see how he fare in this series before we officially start talking about buy outs or Robidas Island.

Bad karma thread on the eve of the playoffs. Embarrassing.

 

[Stephen]

He can no longer stick handle and skate in unison. He's either moving his hands or his feet, never both together.

He can be very limited and doesn’t have a good “glide game” where he can at least be moving and stickhandling a bit more. Seems like he’s running on the ice at times chasing after a tennis ball.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

no, because Willy doesn't bring it every night if he did he would be but he doesn't

 

[TimeZone]

It's not even remotely close.

 

[PeE eL DuBoiS]

We don't have a playoff comparison for last year as JT was injured. Nylander had a great showing.

This season, Nylander. He has the occasional absent game, whereas Tavares has the occasional good game. Tavares seems to be thinking about Pina Coladas and dancing in the rain for a lot of the time.

 

[notDatsyuk]

man it would be cool if just for one day, like the day we finally start the playoffs, we could stop shitting on any player who hasn't reached out expectations

part of bringing in John was to be a 2nd C matchup issue during a 7 game series...that depth scoring will be key...let's see how he fare in this series before we officially start talking about buy outs or Robidas Island.

The problem is that he hasn't done that, particularly in the playoffs. Nylander has been the better player for the last two years, especially in the playoffs.

I don't think most people are shitting on him or talking about buyouts or Robidas island, but just acknowledging that he probably belongs as 3C, and taking faceoffs on the PP.

 

[tmlms13]

They are very different players. It's really tough to compare. People are going to ridicule this but

When Tavares goes cold he is still a useful player. When Willie goes cold he is completely useless, but when he is hot he's way better than Tavares.

 

[BlueBaron]

JT does a ton of little things and relies more on using the people around him. Willy is physically more talented but maybe not mentally.

 

[Le Cobra]

They are very different players. It's really tough to compare. People are going to ridicule this but

When Tavares goes cold he is still a useful player. When Willie goes cold he is completely useless, but when he is hot he's way better than Tavares.

hopefuly they alternate when they go hot and cold

 

[Warden of the North]

Tavares is inconsistent but he honestly is not as bad as people make him out to be. Nylander has a higher ceiling but even Nylander hasn't been consistent his entire career.

Tavares is the opposite of inconsistent. Aside from his first year here when he was paired with Mitch his totals are basically inline with his entire career.

 

[ZEBROA]

Nylander need to step up! Tavares got 100% more points this playoff.

 

[Community]

Nylander need to step up! Tavares got 100% more points this playoff.

Well that's not true at all 1 isn't 100% more than 0.

Nylander played well last night and I'm sure that he will play well in this series.

 

[Craigo85]

I think the problem is that when JT is off, he's really off. Being as slow as he is doesn't make things look good if he isn't contributing and this year 27 goals isn't great.

I also think JT is pretty soft. He'll battle on the boards a little bit and somehow he's got 90 hits this year but I don't think many of them are real hits. I was hoping for both him and Matthews to be leaning into guys more last night. Hopefully they do next game because some Tampa players were already playing like a bunch of petty assholes at the end.

JT may be better at faceoffs, but Willy isn't a liability either. He'd probably improve over time too if he had more draws.

note: I agree Willy is probably softer than JT ... but one of them is the captain and a veteran that I expect more from. Willy obviously has better primary stats, speed, etc.