Contracts for the Big-3

[Guilt Trip]

So are you telling me that you think Auston Matthews would be playing even better with Nylander on his line instead of Kapanen?  I don't, quite honestly.

Yes, that's exactly what you're being told. Matthews has been worse this year at evens. Corsi, Goals For, Expected Goals For, Scoring Chances For, High Danger Chances For -- and shares of each of those. All worse than last year.

You're thinking of his PP performance.

You're both going by a small sample size here. There's no way to know if Matthews would be even better with Nylander. Chances are yes because Nylander is more talented then Ennis and Kappy but we simply don't know how Nylander would be playing.

 

[Bullfrog]

The thing is, at this point, it seems like addition by subtraction with Nylander.  You guys have seen the videos of Nylander refusing to block shots, yes?  That screams of a "me first" mentality.  Look at how well Auston Matthews is doing with Kapanen, a guy who plays hard, plays well defensively, and does all the little things.

Come on now. Addition by subtraction? He's 22 years old and has two straight 60 point seasons. That is very high-end production for a young player.

Not blocking shots screams to me "I don't want to get injured". It also tells me he's probably listening to the coaches. Here's an article with Rask asking his players to not try to stop the puck:

?Just stay in the lane and try not to play goalie,? Rask said of what he wants from the men in front of him. ?A lot of times when you try to stop it like a goalie, you open up holes and screen the goalie even more. Our guys do a pretty good job of focusing on the puck, staying in the lane, and not trying to do too much.?

So are you telling me that you think Auston Matthews would be playing even better with Nylander on his line instead of Kapanen?  I don't, quite honestly.  And have a look at the Tavares line's stats.  I wouldn't mess with that line either.  They are arguably playing even better than the Auston Matthews line, with way fewer goals against allowed.  So where does that leave Nylander?  On the third line?  Sure I guess he could be just the shot in the arm Kadri needs right now, but are you willing to pay $8 million per year for a third line winger that's going to get relatively limited ice time?  I would much rather allocate that money elsewhere, personally, even considering just how talented Nylander is.

The short answer is yes, I do think he'd be doing better.........5-on-5. More importantly, the team would be doing better with Nylander in the lineup. Kadri now gets one of Marner (unlikely), Nylander, or Kapanen.

 

[mr grieves]

So are you telling me that you think Auston Matthews would be playing even better with Nylander on his line instead of Kapanen?  I don't, quite honestly.

Yes, that's exactly what you're being told. Matthews has been worse this year at evens. Corsi, Goals For, Expected Goals For, Scoring Chances For, High Danger Chances For -- and shares of each of those. All worse than last year.

You're thinking of his PP performance.

You're both going by a small sample size here. There's no way to know if Matthews would be even better with Nylander. Chances are yes because Nylander is more talented then Ennis and Kappy but we simply don't know how Nylander would be playing.

I'm well aware of that. I'm saying sickbeast is, within the small, unrepresentative sample he's looking at, wrong.

 

[herman]

So are you telling me that you think Auston Matthews would be playing even better with Nylander on his line instead of Kapanen?  I don't, quite honestly.

Yes, that's exactly what you're being told. Matthews has been worse this year at evens. Corsi, Goals For, Expected Goals For, Scoring Chances For, High Danger Chances For -- and shares of each of those. All worse than last year.

You're thinking of his PP performance.

You're both going by a small sample size here. There's no way to know if Matthews would be even better with Nylander. Chances are yes because Nylander is more talented then Ennis and Kappy but we simply don't know how Nylander would be playing.

I'm well aware of that. I'm saying sickbeast is, within the small, unrepresentative sample he's looking at, wrong.

But he doesn?t block shots! And he wants to be paid! What a bum.

 

[Kin]

William Nylander, soft, greedy and small, only had 18 blocked shots in 1350 minutes last year.

The Captain of the Stanley Cup Champions had 21 blocked shots in 1650 minutes.

Nylander blocked more shots than Kessel, Kucherov, Kane and lots of other players whose names don't start with K.

In conclusion, who gives a crap about blocked shots?

 

[OldTimeHockey]

William Nylander, soft, greedy and small, only had 18 blocked shots in 1350 minutes last year.

The Captain of the Stanley Cup Champions had 21 blocked shots in 1650 minutes.

Nylander blocked more shots than Kessel, Kucherov, Kane and lots of other players whose names don't start with K.

In conclusion, who gives a crap about blocked shots?

Hey, I'm pretty sure I cursed at the TV when Matthews blocked a shot in the Chicago game.

 

[Kin]

Patrice Bergeron's career high in blocked shots? 67

Anze Kopitar? 65

Pavel Datysuk? 42

Jonathan Toews? 38

In conclusion, not even the best defensive forwards in the game give a crap about blocking shots.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

So are you telling me that you think Auston Matthews would be playing even better with Nylander on his line instead of Kapanen?  I don't, quite honestly.

Yes, that's exactly what you're being told. Matthews has been worse this year at evens. Corsi, Goals For, Expected Goals For, Scoring Chances For, High Danger Chances For -- and shares of each of those. All worse than last year.

You're thinking of his PP performance.

Remember, it's not just Nylander that's out of the equation - Hyman was effective on that line as well, although I think it's just more recently that he's become appreciated for what he brings.

Regardless, when Nylander signs his bridge, or gets his bars of gold, or whatever they do, I'd love to see Kapenen stay on that line with Nylander and Matthews, and move Marleau down to the Kadri line.

 

[herman]

https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2018/10/15/17963012/william-nylander-trade-for-defenseman-hanifin-lindholm-trouba-dumba-pesce-nurse-provorov-werenski

Normally I would just trollishly laugh out loud at any parroting of trading Nylander for a defenseman. Especially if the reason for trading Nylander is because he didn't block a shot that one time, and look how great Kapanen looks. Like, I don't even give it the usual amount of time and effort into explaining why that doesn't work (not even for a single season of Karlsson -- for which I could be wrong, but it is my clearly stated preference).

Fortunately, if you wait long enough, someone in the blogs will write about it, pretty thoroughly.

 

[herman]

Looking forward to Marner and Matthews getting dragged for negotiating their next contracts!

 

[Coco-puffs]

So are you telling me that you think Auston Matthews would be playing even better with Nylander on his line instead of Kapanen?  I don't, quite honestly.

Yes, that's exactly what you're being told. Matthews has been worse this year at evens. Corsi, Goals For, Expected Goals For, Scoring Chances For, High Danger Chances For -- and shares of each of those. All worse than last year.

You're thinking of his PP performance.

I believe if you only look at his numbers with Kapanen, it isn't the case.  The time with Ennis really skews it.

EDIT:

w Kapanen and Marleau:  53% CF, 56% xGF, 60% GF
w Ennis and Marleau:  41% CF, 42% xGF, 25% GF

 

[Bates]

Sizing up our Cap situation can we even sign Nylander, Matthews, and Marner? And fill out the roster for next year?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I believe if you only look at his numbers with Kapanen, it isn't the case.  The time with Ennis really skews it.

Prior to the Caps game it was true for Kapanen as well. Then Matthews/Kapanen put up a 74% CF to boost their numbers. Small sample sizes!

Not to dump on Kapanen, because historically I've certainly been a fan of his, but from all the games I've seen Matthews has been carrying his linemates at even strength all season. He's doing all the work there. If this Nylander thing drags on I'd consider even throwing Hyman back on his line to give him a little more support.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Sizing up our Cap situation can we even sign Nylander, Matthews, and Marner? And fill out the roster for next year?

Of course we can: http://www.tmlfans.ca/community/index.php?topic=5002.msg337220#msg337220

 

[disco]

Willy is going to be a superstar for years to come. The dude is going to be just awesome. I still miss watching him and I'm sure his mates do too. At no cap or 1-2 other stars on this team does he get his $8-million AAV yesterday? Sure he does. But he's a winger 2nd on the winger depth chart and 4th on the superstar depth chart. I'm guessing they wait him out 'till he comes down to $6.5. Or the bridge. I honestly have no idea at this point.

 

[cabber24]

I believe every number reported to date to be 100% speculation.

The only shred of evidence came from Shanny when he said they're asking their young stars to take less but he did not mention numbers.

What "source" has given a number? The team? The agent? I don't think so.

We'll find out what's going on when he signs or is traded.

 

[Frank E]

I read that PPP article that herman posted in one of the 46 threads discussing Nylander...anyways, as usual with good players, finding a one-for-one trade would be very difficult.  So, not really surprising.

On that, If they decide that trading Nylander is a thing they need to look into, I'm not adverse to the idea of throwing more at a deal to get a couple of players back.  I'm not sure why most articles/discussions are trying to find Nylander's equal on defense to come back one-for-one.  Maybe Nylander + ?, for a LW and a RHD?

 

[Kin]

I'm not sure why most articles/discussions are trying to find Nylander's equal on defense to come back one-for-one.

I think because it's a pretty fair assumption that the bigger you make a trade the more limited you'll be in terms of trading partners.

 

[Frank E]

I'm not sure why most articles/discussions are trying to find Nylander's equal on defense to come back one-for-one.

I think because it's a pretty fair assumption that the bigger you make a trade the more limited you'll be in terms of trading partners.

I guess that's what I'm saying...why are we/they focused on a one-for-one when really I think a 2 for 1, or 1 for 2, is a much more likely scenario, and especially given the cap implications.

 

[Kin]

I guess that's what I'm saying...why are we/they focused on a one-for-one when really I think a 2 for 1, or 1 for 2, is a much more likely scenario, and especially given the cap implications.

I think it's because the people really entertaining the idea of trading Nylander are effectively hopeful that it would be a good decision and 1 for 1's, in part because you're probably dealing with the biggest trade pool, are usually where teams do best in trading NHL players.

Again, these people, who I'm not one of are hoping that trading Nylander is in effect a part of the Leafs' leverage in this situation. Others, myself included, think it is highly unlikely that the Leafs would do well in a trade regardless of what sort of return they were looking for.