William Nylander
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Boston Leaf
New member
freer said:
yeah I agree... I new he had talent but he has been even better so far this year than I could have imagined
Kin
Active member
Tough to comment on things like defensive assignments or faceoff wins but I definitely don't see any offensive reason through these first 8 games as to why Nylander can't be a C going forward. He's great with the puck on his stick, brilliant at looking to set up scoring opportunities, confident in his own shot, seems pretty resilient against defenders...he's reminded me a little bit of Nicklas Backstrom.
Nik the Trik said:
At this point the only reason for me would be that he just looks so gosh darn good on Matthews' wing.
Highlander
Active member
I gotta admit, that last year I thought he may turn out to be a floater who would show occassional signs of greatness. Turns out he is looking and playing like a superstar, hope he keeps it up, no reason why he won't.
Exciting times for sure!
Exciting times for sure!
Redleaf
Active member
Highlander said:
Yeah. Last year I had a feeling he was dipping his toe into the big league pond and finding out what it takes. Much like Marner, and maybe even Matthews are doing now. This year William is fully submerged and is playing lights out so far. Can't wait for the other two rookies to break out of their tempered comfort levels over the next few months or seasons. I have a feeling Matthews and Marner will be even better players.
Highlander
Active member
Toes in the water, great analogy and I think you're exactly correct with Matthews and Marner.
mr grieves
New member
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:Nik the Trik said:
Ultimately I'd like to see Nylander back at C because in my fantasy world we have 3 good scoring lines: 1C Matthews 2C Nylander 3C Kadri aided and abetted by Browns, Kapanens, Johnsons, JVRs, Leipsics, etc etc.
Duh, and Marners
But why stop at 3?
Gimme:
Soshnikov - Matthews - Marner
JvR - Nylander - Kapanen
Komarov - Kadri - Leipsic
Johnsson - Holland - Brown
Or whatever.
Just get over the Smiths and the like on the PK and roll four lines that can all score.
LuncheonMeat
New member
freer said:
I don't think it's that easy. There isn't a lot of time to make that decision, and if a player simply gets out of the way, they're probably creating space for the puck carrier to blow by them.
herman
Well-known member
As of today, Nylander continues to lead his draft class in PPG (0.774) and GPG (0.323) in their NHL careers.
It's still a pretty small sample size and early in the season, but he is on pace for 29 goals/100 pts this year and only not recording a point in 2 games (the wins vs Bos and Fla). If he matches the (limited) career pace, it'd be 26 goals/63 points. Projection by career shooting percentage (13.5%) and avg shots per game (2.39) also points to 26 goals per 82 games.
Is it safe to say he'll be 25 g/60 pt minimum (barring injury)?
It's still a pretty small sample size and early in the season, but he is on pace for 29 goals/100 pts this year and only not recording a point in 2 games (the wins vs Bos and Fla). If he matches the (limited) career pace, it'd be 26 goals/63 points. Projection by career shooting percentage (13.5%) and avg shots per game (2.39) also points to 26 goals per 82 games.
Is it safe to say he'll be 25 g/60 pt minimum (barring injury)?
Kin
Active member
herman said:
I know it's happened in some fairly high profile cases like Domi and Larkin last year but I wonder if a deep dive on things would reveal that there is some truth to the idea that first year players tend to hit a wall when the season and all of its travel begins to pile up.
herman
Well-known member
Nik the Trik said:
That's a good point. Last year was Nylanders first taste of a nearly full NHL season game load (38 Marlies + 14 Marlies Playoffs + 22 Leafs + WJHC (2 shifts) = 74 GP), with a concussion and appendectomy break in the middle.
What might help Nylander hurdle that wall would be his Pro/AHL time, which neither Domi nor Larkin really had. Nylander's been playing against some level of pro-adult hockey since 2013.
LuncheonMeat said:
Thank-you!! I never got around to posting about it, but people harping on Nylander in that one screenscrap is really unfair. The puck was behind the net and he was defending down low. When the puck went to the half-boards he correctly identified that Stamkos was open for a pass and started to move to the point to try and defend there. The pass was made as Nylander was already moving towards the point and obviously Stamkos got it off right away with the one-timer.
Also, Hunwick and the Lightning player in front of the net were screening Andersen a boatload more than Nylander was there anyway.