Nylander to C - It HAS to Happen

[aingefan]

If Willie makes the move, you definitely want a legit trigger-man on his left.
Kovi could be the perfect fit there.

 

[PromisedLand]

Nylander's defensive game will be what determines if Babcock trust Willie with the added responsibility of the position to play him in the middle.

ummm..... I think Willy's defensive game is twice (if not more) as good as bozak's defensive game.

Example: when matthews was injured; babcock trusted Willy's line to play against Malkin line while Kadri line took on Crosby line. AND Willy did a great job

Bozak line was still playing sheltered mins and kept on sucking.

 

[kindalaidback]

Domi is so overrated by some leafs fans. Purely for his last name he is a **** player who has some grit so does Matt Martin for example. 7 playoff games was enough for quite a lot of fans to turn on nylander, not outright saying get rid (all though so did) but stupid comments like the one you quoted.

If we trade nylander when he is a 80 point player at 25 years old I wonder if those same poster then complain about dubas trading him.

short answer: yes.

 

[Mess]

ummm..... I think Willy's defensive game is twice (if not more) as good as bozak's defensive game.

Example: when matthews was injured; babcock trusted Willy's line to play against Malkin line while Kadri line took on Crosby line. AND Willy did a great job

Bozak line was still playing sheltered mins and kept on sucking.

When Matthews got hurt Babcock trusted Patty Marleau in the middle more than Nylander.

Bozak played sheltered 3rd line minutes and I would imagine if Nylander replaces him as #3C then Willie's line will get similar protection.

 

[PromisedLand]

When Matthews got hurt Babcock trusted Patty Marleau in the middle more than Nylander.

Note entirely true.

Marleau in the center wasn;t good enough and then babcock came to his senses and put Nylander in the middle

 

[ToneDog]

If we don't sign Tavares, Matthews, Kadri, Nylander, Aalto down the middle is a viable option that I would be happy with. If we could acquire a Neal, Maroon, Jenner, Watson type winger I'd be happy with out forwards going into the season. However my expectations for the season would be lower.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

If Nylander plays center I expect a drop in production as he likely gets a lot less ice time. The third line last year only played like 14 mins a game at even strength.

People will go crazy if Nylander's production drops next year. It is a hard choice and will likely depend on which UFA centers Dubas likes

 

[Mess]

If Nylander plays center I expect a drop in production as he likely gets a lot less ice time. The third line last year only played like 14 mins a game at even strength.

People will go crazy if Nylander's production drops next year.

This is playing a part in Nylander new contract based on what position he is expected to play and his production as a result.

As a #1RW his points will go up and as a #3C his points will go down.

You would pay a #1RW differently than a #3C.

 

[LeafFever]

Needing a #3 C is not that big of a deal. People do not realize what a good situation we are in. There are bargain-basement bottom 6 forwards available every summer.

 

[Leafsman]

I'm a bit surprised that this is the majority opinion. Willy played secondary matchups against guys like Malkin and Krejci, and posted overall very good underlying metrics despite this. His even strength production wasn't great, but it was right in line with what Matthews had with the same wingers. To me that was the stretch that cemented that he can and should be a center. Babcock seem to think the same, as he commented on that stretch saying that it was Willy's best as a center. Before that stretch, Babs way of talking about that topic had started to change, but afterwards he was again referring to Willy as a future center.

It seem to me that a lot of people expected him to carry the team (read lead the way with tons of points) with Matthews out and taking his spot, but that was always unrealistic considering his linemates and how dysfunctional that PP unit was.


Kadri and Nylander really doesn't seem to work together though.

I have a poor memory but did Marner and Kadri not have trouble meshing initially as well?

My strategy behind Pairing Nylander with those two is to get a little bit better look at him as a winger. We haven't come close to seeing his potential yet - is he an elite forward or an elite center? I see his potential as elite, it's just at what position does he reach it?

My concern with Nylander at center is developing a 3C instead of a top six forward. If the idea is to develop two hybrid-second lines instead of the traditional 1st,2nd, 3rd, 4th line system then I can see advantages. With Nylander at center you are spreading the talent more evenly across 3 lines instead of a heavier top 2 line system.

The absolute truth of the matter is that it is too early to concrete him into either position. I'm more than comfortable with Nylander shifting to center as long as there is a center available should it not work as planned. I don't want to forfeit an entire season just to test this experiment.

 

[Morgs]

Nope it doesn't have to happen.

 

[Leafsman]

One drawback to moving Nylander to center is that Babcock will surely even out minutes like he did last year. Keeping Nylander as a top-six forward will allow Babcock to increase the TOI to Matthews and Kadri's lines.

We need our best players playing more!

 

[Spirit of 67]

Well I don't agree with your general premise but I think he will be given a good look next season.

First of all, it all comes down to JT. If he wants to come here, Willy will stay on the wing.
That said, I don't think JT is leaving the Island. So that means that you have to think long and hard aobut Willy in the middle when compared to the other options. Of those, I think him in the middle is the best one.

We shall see.

One last thing, how is it poor asset management to keep Willy on the wing but not so keeping Mitch there?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

If Nylander plays center I expect a drop in production as he likely gets a lot less ice time. The third line last year only played like 14 mins a game at even strength.

People will go crazy if Nylander's production drops next year. It is a hard choice and will likely depend on which UFA centers Dubas likes

Considering Nylander would still get a ton of PP time, and most of those ES minutes will likely be against weaker competition than he was facing with Matthews (after all, teams will still need to stop Matthews/Marner lines, and Kadri/Marleau lines as well), so I would think he still gets an uptick in production. At the very least his P/60 should go higher, which is really all you care about.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Well I don't agree with your general premise but I think he will be given a good look next season.

First of all, it all comes down to JT. If he wants to come here, Willy will stay on the wing.
That said, I don't think JT is leaving the Island. So that means that you have to think long and hard aobut Willy in the middle when compared to the other options. Of those, I think him in the middle is the best one.

We shall see.

One last thing, how is it poor asset management to keep Willy on the wing but not so keeping Mitch there?

I think that's really it. If Tavares comes here, then Nylander stays on the wing. If he does not, I do not see anyone the Leafs can acquire who you can genuinely say is a better option than putting Nylander there.

 

[Stephen]

The imperative of putting Nylander at center seems to be a rouse to get Matthews and Marner together... but in any case it seems to make sense for the long term viability of keeping William Nylander at a hefty price tag: if he's your number two center, he brings a certain value and fills a huge role. If he's a scoring winger, how much do you pay him in relation to Mitch Marner on the upper end, and you start wondering how Kapanen and Johnsson can replace him by committee on the lower end.

He's more disposable as a winger than as a center.

 

[Boutette]

Grundstrom - Goat - Komarov (Grinding Shutdown Line)

Maybe for the Marlies (at least re: Goat and Komarov anyway).

 

[moon111]

The Leafs have a lot of good players that would need a 'driver' on their line to really get the most out of the roster. And with Bozak gone, you're left with Marner, Nylander, and Matthews. I'm not certain that top-6/bottom-6 is a good thing for the team. Personally, I rather have a 3rd line like Johnsson/Nylander/C.Brown and distribute JVR/Bozak's pp ice time to the stars.

 

[Randy Randerson]

I don't think it's a good idea to pre-determine what has to happen, that's how guys get miscast and play poorly where they're capable of being very good when used right

that said, I'd be happy to see him get a look at center and see how he does

 

[member 147413]

I tend to agree, I think our team will mostly be built internally and I hope/think that we’re running with Nylander at C next season.

Grundstrom - Matthews - Kapanen
Marleau - Kadri - Marner
Johnsson - Nylander - Hyman

That would be my ideal Top 9, barring any major acquisition.

 

[IPS]

The Nylander-Matthews chemistry has always been overrated IMO. Nylander at center very possibly improves our offense significantly.

 

[PromisedLand]

If we don't sign Tavares, Matthews, Kadri, Nylander, Aalto down the middle is a viable option that I would be happy with. If we could acquire a Neal, Maroon, Jenner, Watson type winger I'd be happy with out forwards going into the season. However my expectations for the season would be lower.

if somehow we dont sign JT then it would be nice to sign kovy (another UFA) or trade for skinner (canes looking to trade him) to play with Willy at center

Johnsson-Matthews-Hyman

Marleau-Kadri-Marner

Kovy/Skinner-Nylander-Kapanen

 

[Boutette]

When Matthews got hurt Babcock trusted Patty Marleau in the middle more than Nylander.

Bozak played sheltered 3rd line minutes and I would imagine if Nylander replaces him as #3C then Willie's line will get similar protection.

Marleau lasted a game or two before he was put back with Kadri and Babcock started running a Johnsson-Nylander-Hyman line.

And it doesn't make sense if you do have something like a Johnsson-Nylander-Kapanen line with the same protection as Bozak's line since they have a very different skillset and talents than JvR and Bozak. This is a line featuring 2 effective PKers and is very skilled and fast. This is the kind of line that will generate tons of odd man rushes, and breakaways. I expect it wouldn't get the level of overwhelming offensive zone starts that the Bozak line was gifted with.

 

[connormcmuffin]

Love the 'Nylander didn't really impress me last year' talk, did you want 70 and not 60 points from him? Same with Gardiner, 'well he had 50 points but I like Dermott more' the talking points in Toronto are beyond silly sometimes.

 

[LeafGrief]

Does it HAVE to happen? No, it doesn't have to happen for the Toronto Maple Leafs to be successful. Would it be a good thing? Absolutely! Nylander is supremely skilled and a high-scoring centre is a more valuable piece than a high-scoring winger. Matthews-Kadri-Nylander down the middle is an elite 1-2-3 centre group and gives our team a very real and competitive strength. As such, I certainly hope that Nylander continues to grow as a C and I will throw my hat into the ring as someone who has been impressed by Nylander's play at C. He is very capable of driving play at 5on5 and did so quite well in tough matchups in the limited opportunities that he's been given. I don't expect him to ever be an elite two-way guy, but he has the tools to be a capable offensive C.

Btw, if they can actually sort out that powerplay unit this year, he's gonna score 70+ points. He looked like a player poised for a breakout all year.

Just realized I'm wearing my Nylander tshirt as I typed this up. I'm a huge fan of his. I'll always maintain that if we hadn't won the Matthews lottery we'd be grooming Nylander to be the #1C and we'd be comfortable with that. He's a heck of a player and that gets lost in the hype for Matthews and Marner.