Phileas Fogg
New member
bustaheims said:
Heh, interesting take. I'd think that if this was true, it would be a cautionary tale for all RFAs around the league, not just on the Leafs.
Red Wings @ Leafs - Dec. 23rd, 7:30pm - SN, Fan 590
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
Heh, interesting take. I'd think that if this was true, it would be a cautionary tale for all RFAs around the league, not just on the Leafs.
ZBBM
Active member
Well, I think herman your position on Nylander is the most charitable it can be.
As for him being behind despite now having a reasonable number of games under his belt, it's not just that he's not playing as well as we would expect him to normally. He's not even playing as well as players who are fall less talented on teams that aren't anywhere near playoff caliber. I expected him to start making some headway these last 2-3 games. If anything, he regressed. Hopefully tonight he'll snap back to his baseline.
Anyway, at some point his being "behind" or "out of sync" no longer cuts it as an excuse. It's a matter of opinion, but mine is that he'll be reaching that point very soon.
As for him being behind despite now having a reasonable number of games under his belt, it's not just that he's not playing as well as we would expect him to normally. He's not even playing as well as players who are fall less talented on teams that aren't anywhere near playoff caliber. I expected him to start making some headway these last 2-3 games. If anything, he regressed. Hopefully tonight he'll snap back to his baseline.
Anyway, at some point his being "behind" or "out of sync" no longer cuts it as an excuse. It's a matter of opinion, but mine is that he'll be reaching that point very soon.
Hobbes
New member
Nylander got Matthews all last season and benefited from it. This is the first time Marner has had an equivalent opportunity.princedpw said:
As good as Naz is, he just doesn't think the game at the same level that Marner does and it took a long time for them to sort things out (including Mitch spending some time on the 4th line). This year Mitch has gotten a steady diet of Tavares, and as much as it often looks like Marner's driving the bus there's a huge part of that coming from John's "threat level" and that he's consistently in the right place at the right time for Mitch to work his magic. When you have two elite players on the same page, magic happens.
I'd really like to see Nylander put back on Matthews' wing for a few games, with Kapanen shifted over to the opposite wing and push Marleau down with Naz and Brown. If they do this for some home games they can give Matthews' line more sheltered minutes and use John and Naz's lines against the opponents' top two lines. That might help inspire Willy while also test-driving Kappy on his off wing.
herman
Well-known member
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
You know where you can put your opinion? On an internet discussion forum to have a cordial conversation about it.
So let's take a bit of a looksee what what Nylander is producing:
I was going to do my own research, but someone else is all up in this already.
https://twitter.com/SteveBurtch/status/1076535319820812289
https://twitter.com/SteveBurtch/status/1076538804897341440
https://twitter.com/SteveBurtch/status/1076540126195462144
You can call my take as charitable as you'd like, as long as you don't call it merely an opinion. The coaching staff and former players with a platform have all said as much; it's going to take time to really get going, and putting in the work and getting back that confidence will play a big part in doing so.
The Leafs are in a good spot either way and can be very patient about Matthews and Nylander getting back up to full speed. When will I be less patient about it? Probably late January. So far, I haven't seen any real cause for concern even though I'm also disappointed by the lack of giffable moments.
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
I certainly don't disagree with this but I also just don't think 8 games is nearly enough. I tried searching for this but there was an article where Babcock said his sports science people told him how much time it would take for Nylander to get fully up to speed and I'm pretty sure the time-frame ended up being somewhere in January. I tried searching for that article, but couldn't find it anywhere. If someone remembers it please re-post. Anyway, regardless Nylander didn't just forget how to hockey. If it takes longer than we all expected then so be it. Quite frankly as long as he's at 100% in playoffs that's all that really matters.
Phileas Fogg
New member
herman said:
Herm, I love your posts, but everyone's take here is opinion, nothing more, even if a billion stats monkeys bang out backup along with a copy of Hamlet.
Phileas Fogg
New member
herman said:
No doubt about the entertainment value, but a well argued opinion is still just that.
barney_rebel
Active member
That's a nice coat Don received.
barney_rebel
Active member
We rule man
