Nylander Discussion

[Apotheosis]

Nylander has hit a new gear this year. In some ways is better than Marner just needs to work on his hands a bit. If we had this Nylander last year in the playoffs we win.

So far he has benefitted most from Keefe replacing Babcock. Under Babs he had one move. Go around the net and pass the puck back to the point. He now seems to be encouraged to make space for himself and link up with other plays to maintain possession. Once Matthews gets going, that whole line is going to go on a tear.

 

[Farsailor]

So far he has benefitted most from Keefe replacing Babcock.

With Franzens interview today one got to wonder what Nylander went through under Babcock.

 

[Apotheosis]

With Franzens interview today one got to wonder what Nylander went through under Babcock.

Well it seemed he was treated worse than Marner who was forced to make teammate comparisons, but I genuinely have no clue. It was definitely worse though. His effort level out there is night and day.

 

[ACC1224]

With Franzens interview today one got to wonder what Nylander went through under Babcock.

I don't think he had it that bad, certainly not a s bad as Marner.

 

[Teeder Keon]

Well it seemed he was treated worse than Marner who was forced to make teammate comparisons, but I genuinely have no clue. It was definitely worse though. His effort level out there is night and day.

Lol Babcock is becoming a Folk legend now , he’s worse than Hannibal Lector ...
He’s like that SawDude lol
Your a mean one Mr BabGrinch lol

 

[Duffman955]

Good start to the season.

He still has another gear though.

 

[Cecithepylon]

My dream is for jt/Marner to go red hot and Matty and Nylander to get red hot.

 

[authentic]

Good start to the season.

He still has another gear though.

There was one time Matthews, Nylander and Hyman looked like the best line in the league for a stretch of about 2 months. I'm hoping they can get back to that with the rest of our healthy team rolling, then we'll see what this team is truly made of.

 

[Menzinger]

Completely disagreed. Marner playing horribly (both from an ADV stats perspective and eye test level) was still PPG. 70+ points is attainable again given his level of talent, but even then, slightly less with an uptick in PP production (not the static concept Babcock used) would mitigate the differences.

70ish points at 5v5 not overall.

Funny, Marner's pp production last season had room for growth so his overall production will likely balance to a consistent (ie stable 85-95 range) but hitting 70 5v5 points is a very difficult to repeat. Certainly shouldnt be the EXPECTATION for any player on the team imo

Edit: may have slightly misread your post.

 

[zeke]

Hopefully Nylander figures out how to play in the center spot. I also love moving JT back up front. TBH I'm hoping for a little more movement from the PP. Matthews, Marner, and Nylander all know how to play each other's spots on the PP so a little more movement should be a good thing.

Tbh, none of them should even have a "spot".

 

[zeke]

With Franzens interview today one got to wonder what Nylander went through under Babcock.

Yup.

 

[Morgs]

Tbh, none of them should even have a "spot".

Agreed. Cycle around positions like they're doing 5v5 and make it absolutely impossible for a team to defend them as they have no idea who is where, and it will make it even harder to have someone solo attack the PP.

 

[saffronleaf]

I still see people on this board and also on Twitter with an unhealthy obsession towards hating him and hoping he does poorly. Whether overall or in relation to someone like Kadri. It's really weird. I feel bad for those people cause it's like they can't cheer for him cause it will hurt their firm stance and opinion on the player, which seems to not be allowed to be fluid. I'd rather admit I was wrong than cheer against someone.

Like there are actually Twitter accounts devoted specifically to being anti-Nylander. And when he is playing well they come up with every little thing or nitpick to be against him. WTF is wrong with people?

It's not even the numerous anti-Nylander Twitter accounts.

You even have media personalities like Hrudey who do the same thing.

 

[Teeder Keon]

It's not even the numerous anti-Nylander Twitter accounts.

You even have media personalities like Hrudey who do the same thing.

I just don’t like dudes that are named Willy that’s all
I’m a Willyphobe

 

[Hockey Talker29]

I still see people on this board and also on Twitter with an unhealthy obsession towards hating him and hoping he does poorly. Whether overall or in relation to someone like Kadri. It's really weird. I feel bad for those people cause it's like they can't cheer for him cause it will hurt their firm stance and opinion on the player, which seems to not be allowed to be fluid. I'd rather admit I was wrong than cheer against someone.

Like there are actually Twitter accounts devoted specifically to being anti-Nylander. And when he is playing well they come up with every little thing or nitpick to be against him. WTF is wrong with people?

This has always been really bizarre to me. It's the same as it was with Kadri and Gardiner. For some reason, people don't want to give good players credit for being good. They hate them at all costs, and unless they're playing at a superstar level, they're always falling short of expectations somehow.

An interesting caveat is that it is usually suggested that these players should be traded for high-quality players in return (i.e. Nylander for Hamilton or Parayko).

Somehow this crap player will return a blue-chip defenseman, Hmmmm.

 

[ToDavid]

Marner is just being Marner, he always has slow starts dating back before his NHL days. But if Marner has been considered non-existent and still put up a PPG pace, that alone shows you how good he is. Just wait till he gets back, he must be so excited knowing that Babcock is not the coach anymore.

Out of three seasons Marner has paced more points through 18 games than he ultimately finished the season with twice. No, Marner does not have "always" have slow starts.

 

[TheProspector]

Willie has been positively dominant since Keefe's arrival. I don't even think he's playing all that differently, but his teammates are playing more aggressively in the defensive zone, which gives him more options to continue the cycle, or get a dangerous chance off a pass.

It's very, very clear that the entire team was petrified to make any mistakes at all in the offensive zone, or face the wrath of their psychopathic boss.

Now that the pall has been lifted, his teammates are playing the same way, and everyone is significantly more effective at playing hockey.

 

[Stephen]

My dream is for jt/Marner to go red hot and Matty and Nylander to get red hot.

Not possible. The Laws of Leafs Thermodynamics means that for JT/Marner or Matthews/Nylander to get hot, the other pair goes cold.

 

[Hustlr]

Not possible. The Laws of Leafs Thermodynamics means that for JT/Marner or Matthews/Nylander to get hot, the other pair goes cold.

It’s basic heat transfer, Thermo 101 stuff.

 

[nuck]

With Franzens interview today one got to wonder what Nylander went through under Babcock.

Yes coaches are mean but I think Babs liked Willie. My guess is Franzens "mistreatment" started in 10-11 after he stopped being a post season impact player. The guy was a Claude Lemieux playoff beast and then one day he wasn't.

I suspect Babs may have difficulties relating to millennials as they generally don't respond to the stick the same way as earlier generations. If you play well and the club wins that probably isn't an issue but a few players started out pretty flat this season without being picked on. Trotz is from the same generation and he doesn't have that problem. Is it totally on the coach or do the players make a difference? I can't help but notice that a hot backup could have had the club 4th overall in the league (not lamenting the loss of McIlhinney, just how the narrative changes due to random factors). Not defending Babcock as much as speculating.

Not possible. The Laws of Leafs Thermodynamics means that for JT/Marner or Matthews/Nylander to get hot, the other pair goes cold.

There does seem to be a bit of that, partly due to the hotter duo maybe getting a little more primetime opportunity. I think Marner's absence has helped Willie get untracked which is great because he had to be squeezing the stick pretty hard after last seasons choke. It would be crazy if the club had two 80+pt RWs and those two stud centers. I don't know if Willie is all that but when he is getting 5 or 6 shots a night he is going to have a lot of big games this year.

 

[A1LeafNation]

It's not even the numerous anti-Nylander Twitter accounts.

You even have media personalities like Hrudey who do the same thing.

Yup, you have to be pretty stupid to think Nylander isnt on a value contract.

 

[Hockey Crazy]

Gets paid more than Pastrnak who was drafted after him , that'll always leave a bitter taste in my mouth

Glad he's turning things around

Get over it. Pastrnak has the best contract I the NHL.

 

[ruaware41]

Lol Babcock is becoming a Folk legend now , he’s worse than Hannibal Lector ...
He’s like that SawDude lol
Your a mean one Mr BabGrinch lol

you're a mean one Mr. Babs

 

[Nithoniniel]

Sorry for the multi-quote, guys, but I don't want to spam the thread.

Good start to the season.

He still has another gear though.

I agree. I feel like efficiency has been an issue. He's 8th in the league in individual expected goals (a baseline for how much he should score given amount and location of his shots) but he's only tied for 34th in actual goals. At 5v5, both numbers.

With Franzens interview today one got to wonder what Nylander went through under Babcock.

I find myself impressed lately that none of our players showed any of this in public.

I just don’t like dudes that are named Willy that’s all
I’m a Willyphobe

I understand you. If he would insist that people called him Bill, I might just stop liking him altogether.

Out of three seasons Marner has paced more points through 18 games than he ultimately finished the season with twice. No, Marner does not have "always" have slow starts.

Have to admit that I bought into that idea. There's this quote that I like from Stephen Jay Gould, it essentially says that some of the most erroneous takes are the ones we take for granted. The narrative that Marner starts slow has been so strong that I didn't even question it for the longest time.

This has always been really bizarre to me. It's the same as it was with Kadri and Gardiner. For some reason, people don't want to give good players credit for being good. They hate them at all costs, and unless they're playing at a superstar level, they're always falling short of expectations somehow.

There's a guy popping up everywhere on Twitter saying that trading Nylander is addition by subtraction because he doesn't hit or block enough shots. The 'little things that make teams win' he calls it. I felt like I should introduce him to Patrick Kane.

 

[Walshy7]

It's not even the numerous anti-Nylander Twitter accounts.

You even have media personalities like Hrudey who do the same thing.

perfect example on Saturday night, hrudey showed some good plays then goes “but you also get this... stopping in on plays” he then shows 2 examples. The first one nylander fights really hard gets the puck back and it spills to the boards and he doesn’t go quite as hard (fair enough there). The second infuriated me no end Willie and a sabres player were skating behind the net the Sabre player clearly stops and looks at the ref and then willy stops, it’s as clear as day the whistle had been blown but hrudey went on to call him lazy his cherry picked clips weren’t even showing what he thought they were