Nylander to C - It HAS to Happen

gabeliscious

Registered User
Jan 8, 2009
7,574
257
i would transition nylander back to center. we have enough wingers that can replace nylanders position from within. if nylander can become a legit center we will be in great shape. we are also in a position where we can shelter him for the season.

hyman-matthews-marner
marleau-kadri-kapanen
johnsson-nylander-brown
grunstrom-aaltonen-leivo
martin
 

robertmac43

Forever 43!
Mar 31, 2015
23,094
15,176
From an organizational aspect and the fact that C is a position of need, yeah it makes sense to transition him. That being said we don't need to force it, a slow transition is fine. Having him on Matthews wing is great as well!|
 

therealkoho

Him/Leaf/fan
Jul 10, 2009
17,011
8,202
the Prior
Ok so Nylander has played wing. But when he is With Matthews they both are C/W. They both play C depending on what side the puck is dropped on. This means he has played for the most part #1C for parts of games but big disaster if he Plays #3C? WTF is wrong with you guys? Both Matthews and Marner are superstars. Nylander is just a Star. Better trade him, only a star.

It also seems no one remembers his time in the AHL. He was first on the wing asd was doing alright, but when he went to Center everything about his game improved.

If he is on the third line he will feast upon the low hanging fruit, just like Kadri did.
Matty is the centre on that line, Nylander takes f/o's on his strongside, but he does not play centre they switch off immediately
 

drewjenks

Registered User
Oct 1, 2017
1,176
713
Canada
The reason is that he’s a soft, little floater, that lives on the perimeter. He would get eaten alive as a center in the NHL and has already shown that.

This topic just truly shows the difference between fans and NHL brass. It should be extremely obvious to everyone ( it is to NHL people/ people that can evaluate talent) why Nylander will never play Center in the NHL.

It’s mind numbing that this is even a topic.

WO WO WO

Slow the roll Poulie....there are people who agree with you.
 

Sypher04

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
11,360
9,539
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.

Agreed on both. I thought Nylander looked pretty good in his short stint at center. And Kadri and Nylander have never shown an ounce of chemistry.

If Nylander isn't playing Center, the obvious move is him with Matthews, and Kadri with Marner where both pairs have demonstrated chemistry.
 

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