Nylander is getting too much hate, but the love might be returning!

[Guided by Veseys]

He still enters the zone extremely well and I think he is tougher on the puck now as well. The coaching staff needs to figure out how to utilize his talents

 

[rumman]

Well all predictive stats are still saying he's an elite player, so I don't really know why people are having a problem. The production will come, he's more than worth the contract.

Maybe Babs should try to put him ina situation to succeed instead of dropping him to Kadri/4th line/bench every excuse he can get.

cause and effect.

 

[RLF]

Expectations are high for Willie. He's supposed to be one of the big 4 and a main weapon for us.

I've seen players come back from 2-3 month injuries and produce almost right away. I think Willie will be a good player for us down the road but his play this year has been disappointing. After the holdout, people are naturally going to be upset with him.

That's just not true. Most players do not come back well...I just can't offer any proof of that.

 

[qqaz]

There's actually been very little "hate" for Nylander, from everything I'm seeing and hearing. Here on HF, and on radio/TV broadcasts, it's mostly been fair criticism. If anything, he's gotten a longer grace period than most players in his situation would have.

The hold out would have been forgotten if he had held up his end of the bargain, on the ice. I believe it still can be forgotten (for most fans) if he plays up to the new price-tag. When he came back, the team was winning, which covers a lot of warts. For a while it covered for Nylander's poor play. But now it seems the bell is tolling for him.

I, for one, am fed up with poor results, and am lamenting the contract. It is too high a benchmark now for the other stars on the team, and could cause issues. And the more glaring need on the blueline has next to no long term solutions with the small slice of cap-space that's now left.

I hope he plays well, I hope the teams plays well, and I hope we win the Cup. But he's hurt the team's chances, from what I've seen so far, not improved them.

 

[ToneDog]

There's actually been very little "hate" for Nylander, from everything I'm seeing and hearing. Here on HF, and on radio/TV broadcasts, it's mostly been fair criticism. If anything, he's gotten a longer grace period than most players in his situation would have.

The hold out would have been forgotten if he had held up his end of the bargain, on the ice. I believe it still can be forgotten (for most fans) if he plays up to the new price-tag. When he came back, the team was winning, which covers a lot of warts. For a while it covered for Nylander's poor play. But now it seems the bell is tolling for him.

I, for one, am fed up with poor results, and am lamenting the contract. It is too high a benchmark now for the other stars on the team, and could cause issues. And the more glaring need on the blueline has next to no long term solutions with the small slice of cap-space that's now left.

I hope he plays well, I hope the teams plays well, and I hope we win the Cup. But he's hurt the team's chances, from what I've seen so far, not improved them.

Said that we were a worse team with Willie in the lineup 3 or 4 weeks ago and response was "post of the year". I'll keep waiting for the Real William Nylander to arrive. Oh yeah, Panthers looking pretty good with Trochek back in the lineup after being out 2 months with a broken ankle.

 

[Morgs]

cause and effect.

Stupid.

 

[7even]

If you play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I'm cheering for you. That's not to say that I think your play is perfect or that you're above critical evaluation, just that I'm on your team and always hoping for the best. But the amount of vindictive asswipes on here assassinating a 22 year old's character, mocking him with just the cringiest middle-school level name calling, and generally acting like brats makes me resent that we share a fandom, and I have to wonder what your behaviour is like in the rest of your life. The irony of questioning someone's character while making a mockery of your own seems to be lost.

High school never ends, I guess.

 

[Stamkos4life]

I'm going to say...no he isn't getting too much hate.

He's a highly paid offensive player who has 4 points in 20 games. That's going to lead to criticism. Especially when the reason he came into the season cold was because he was holding out for a contract. He isn't coming back from injury where there might be some empathy for a slow start.

And besides that isn't much of an excuse after 20 games. If someone like Weber can miss the entire start of the season and still put up 16 points in 26 games after coming back at the end of November, I'd hope a forward like Nylander could get his game going a bit faster. His play is on him. It's fine to cheer for anyone on the roster. But a guy taking criticism for under-performing is perfectly fine.

This.

Am I supposed to feel bad for a millionaire who held out on his team, just to make an extra couple 100 k?

 

[ShaneFalco]

He still enters the zone extremely well and I think he is tougher on the puck now as well. The coaching staff needs to figure out how to utilize his talents

He and babcock seem to clash a little

 

[Stamkos4life]

people have decided to dislike him personally for wanting to earn a fair salary in his eyes, and they will never forgive him. they're probably thrilled he isn't producing, as it gives them an excuse to bash him. he's an excellent young player who loves it here, and his teammates love him. he'll get it going soon

Come on man, you're better than this.

Almost every poster who is upset with nylander will/would get over it if nylander actually started playing well and producing.

That's on him.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Come on man, you're better than this.

Almost every poster who is upset with nylander will/would get over it if nylander actually started playing well and producing.

That's on him.

there are some people who are disappointed/upset with his lack of production, but the people who actually hate him are a different group

 

[Gary Nylund]

There's actually been very little "hate" for Nylander, from everything I'm seeing and hearing. Here on HF, and on radio/TV broadcasts, it's mostly been fair criticism. If anything, he's gotten a longer grace period than most players in his situation would have.

Now that you mention it ... sure there's some posters here who have flown off the rails, they're probably the same ones who were posting like rude teenagers about Nylander ever since the season started. That's to be expected though with such a huge fan base so no big deal. In the media though, maybe I'm missing it but from what I have seen, most of the discussion has been pretty rational. Sure he's gotten some criticism but no more than he deserves as far as I can tell.

Come on man, you're better than this.

Almost every poster who is upset with nylander will/would get over it if nylander actually started playing well and producing.

That's on him.

Agree 100%.

 

[nobody]

Willie Corsi up to 55% and PDO down to 93%. I think this is the definition of shit luck. This kid going to break out big time.

 

[rumman]

Stupid.

WN needs to earn his ice time, nothing stupid here.

 

[egd27]

IMO the guys that get too much "hate" on these boards are the guys that don't necessarily have a high end skill set, but work their butts off to utilize what talent they do have.

And funnily enough, it's often from the posters that are now upset that one of the "skill" guys is being criticized.

 

[Buds17]

His play is being scrutinized. He signed and started late. There's a sluggish start that's associated with that. He's now a highly paid player on this team. When his on ice impact fully turns that corner into what he's capable of producing, any less than positive reactions should follow suit.

 

[member 300185]

The only person not getting enough hate is Babcock. Kapanen worked his hole off and worked his way onto the first line. Then that Moron Babcock puts Nylander back on the first line and sent Kapanen back down to the second/3rd lines.

If I'm Kappy I am asking for a trade.

Moral of story. Hold out, hold your team ransom, get overpaid, and then get back paid and go right back to the first line while putting the person who deserves to be there down.

I was excited when Babs got here. That is over. I want him gone. Most on these boards could coach this team.

 

[Tavares to Marner]

I think for most fans as he returns to form and his production rises they’ll move on.

For some no matter how well he plays he’ll be the blame for all that’s wrong with the team. But there’s no changing those minds.

Help he actually played well

 

[ACC1224]

Willie Corsi up to 55% and PDO down to 93%. I think this is the definition of **** luck. This kid going to break out big time.

Any day now.

 

[horner]

Come on man, you're better than this.

Almost every poster who is upset with nylander will/would get over it if nylander actually started playing well and producing.

That's on him.

I f***ing agree.
Be a professional willie suck it up.

For 6.9mil plus all his bonus money this yr. You boo and throughshit at me for that type of money.

People feeling sorry and making excuses for hin.
Grow up willie.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Hockey players, are, well grunts. They see this fat overweight Swede.making way more than they are.

What are they thinking? How does that affect team dynamic?

Give your head a shake every morning, if you are an entrepreneur. If you are a worker, well, wash your hair once in a while.

 

[Papi 4 Hart]

He still enters the zone extremely well and I think he is tougher on the puck now as well. The coaching staff needs to figure out how to utilize his talents

If you pay players on their ability to enter the zone. Jake Virtanen would be an 8 million dollar player. It is just one facet of the game that a lot of leafs can do well.

 

[Apotheosis]

I honestly don't see a huge problem with him. The lack of points are concerning, but we have 2 NHL seasons as well as arguably the most dominant stretch by a forward in the AHL in a long time to know he has sky high potential. The hate is stemming from people who want an excuse to bash a contract holdout. For all we know, he could drop 10 points in his next 3 games.

 

[nsleaf]

If you play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I'm cheering for you. That's not to say that I think your play is perfect or that you're above critical evaluation, just that I'm on your team and always hoping for the best. But the amount of vindictive asswipes on here assassinating a 22 year old's character, mocking him with just the cringiest middle-school level name calling, and generally acting like brats makes me resent that we share a fandom, and I have to wonder what your behaviour is like in the rest of your life. The irony of questioning someone's character while making a mockery of your own seems to be lost.

High school never ends, I guess.

I'm guessing a lot are still in high school. They are just spewing sound bites to illicit a response. Constructive criticism is a foreign concept.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

his “elite” (lol) 20 goal/60 point self.

He's only 20 goal elite with Matthews.
Hyman scored 11.