Menzinger - is Pastrnak a better player than Nylander?
Did some of us tell you it was stupid to give Nylander a bigger contract than Pastrnak based on Pastrnak having a 30plus goal 70 plus point season going into that contract negotiation? Do you remember how often we said it's clear he's not as good a player as Pastrnak?
Do you feel good about the Leafs paying Nylander more than Pastrnak on a shorter term? Do you appreciate that the same guys you are arguing with today were the same guys telling you then we have no business giving him better money/term than Pastrnak?
If you compare to Pastrnak, there's pretty much not a single good contract in this league.
Here's a thing. In Pastrnak's 70 point season, he had 10 empty net points, many of them goals. You're about eight times more likely to score against an empty net. Do you really want to give those equal weight to other points? Against an actual goalie, Nylander had 3 goals less and 1 point more.
Nylander was given a contract perfectly in line with his comparables
at the time. So was Pastrnak. He's since exploded to become a superstar. Nylander hasn't. That's pretty much the end of it.
It goes back to what I said in the last post. I understand that you felt Pastrnak was a better player at the time. But comparables dictate contract negotiations and Nylander had a better case, and pretty much all of them go along the same baselines.
Furthermore, there's no point focusing
solely on Pastrnak. He's not the only player that Nylander should have been compared to. That's not how it works.