2020-21 Maple Leafs Thread
- Thread starter gcostanza
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Not a fan of WN88 inconsistency but have to say he came through last night - luck or not - a wins a win. Hopefully he can play with a bit of consistency for his sake.
Vesey has to realize his clock is ticking....
JM8 will be face shielded, but a steadying influence on the blue line for sure.
If it takes a week for AM34's wrist? to feel a bit better, so be it.
May is a more important time than late February, early March.
As per JC36: "I'm feeling great & ready to go for sure."
Statement game from Marner. Without Matthews and against the two players ahead of him in scoring he produced. Tavares looks a lot energetic playing with Marner. The Oilers played like the Leafs did when they got shut out by the Flames. Nothing went their way. McDavid may decide to make a statement of his own the next game on Monday.
Best team defensive effort so far and Campbell makes tough saves look easy. Dubas may have found the answer if Andersen decides to leave for free agency.
Best team defensive effort so far and Campbell makes tough saves look easy. Dubas may have found the answer if Andersen decides to leave for free agency.
This was the best game of the season for the Leafs. Just that 1 give away by Barabonov to McDavid.
Oilers got tired of hitting. The hit counter can go up all it wants but you have to score to win.
I watched part of the game and the player whom I was surprised the Leafs got (Zac Bogosian) looked impressive, possibly his best game. The Leafs look like a difficult team to play against, they are no longer reliant on just Muzzin to do his thing.
Maybe Dubas isn't such a dummy, Lou would be impressed.
Maybe Dubas isn't such a dummy, Lou would be impressed.
Their 3rd stringer has performed well in his 3 appearances.
2-1, 2.36 g.a.a., .924 save %
From an article I read today:
I'd link, but it's behind a paywall....
Jonas Siegel
Five Leafs stuck around for a shooting competition long after practice wrapped up on Tuesday.
Firing on Joseph Woll, the acting backup netminder: Nic Petan, Pierre Engvall, Travis Boyd and William Nylander, the fourth-highest-paid player on the team.
"That was sick!” Woll exclaimed after Nylander flung a shot past him in what seemed like slow motion.
When they were done, Nylander helped his teammates fish all the pucks off the ice and scoop them into a bucket.
“You don’t do the things that he does away from the rink and when people don’t watch if you don’t care and you don’t love the game and you don’t want to get better and you don’t want to help your team win,” Zach Hyman said after Nylander helped the Leafs beat the Flames, 2-1, with two goals, including the overtime winner. “I think the guys in the locker room know how much he cares and how much he wants to win. But sometimes he just gets misunderstood.”
Nylander has played 328 games in a Leafs uniform, plus 25 more in the playoffs. It’s time for the misunderstanding to stop. It’s time for the never-ending referendum to end.
That post-practice stuff isn’t out of the norm for Nylander.
He’s usually among the last to leave the ice and almost always among the first to get out there. You’re bound to spot him, with a puck in tow, working on those devastating turnbacks. You’re just as likely to see him playing keep-away with Zach Bogosian, setting up Mikko Lehtonen for one-timers or, as was the case before that Tuesday practice, seeking advice for his backhand shot from former Leaf and current development coach Nik Antropov. The point is the perception of Nylander as someone who doesn’t care, doesn’t try and isn’t invested in the Leafs, none of it really matches with what goes on behind the scenes.
In other words: He’s misunderstood.
“People get on him a lot, obviously,” Hyman said. “I think that people don’t realize how much he cares and how much he wants to win, so to see him be the hero tonight and get the last two goals there, it’s just great. I’m just really happy for him.”
Part of the problem with the never-ending debate surrounding Nylander in Toronto is that it has devolved into sides. You’re either for him or against him. You either appreciate his gifts and believe in his immense ability to impact the game or you dwell on his flaws and insist the Leafs would be better off with a feistier competitor in his place.
One or the other.
Defenders will point to the entries, the five-on-five production, the dazzling displays of skills. Critics will bury him for the way he floats and his lack of apparent care, and they will insist it’s past time the Leafs traded him.
All of it needs to end. It’s time for the two sides to unite.
For one thing, it’s OK to acknowledge the flaws, as Sheldon Keefe pointed out Wednesday night.
“Why is he misunderstood?” Keefe said. “I think Willy has to own some of that. He’s got to find more consistency in his game. He and I have talked a lot about those kind of things. He’s got to be engaged and good without the puck. Part of it, perhaps, is being misunderstood, but part of it is just he’s still got to grow as a player.”
It’s true that for all the dedication Nylander demonstrates away from the game, he can be maddeningly inconsistent when it’s actually game time. That engagement issue Keefe mentioned, that’s been hanging around — fairly — since the time Keefe was coaching Nylander with the Marlies. It persists to this day. It’s real. And it has been an issue in particular at playoff time when the game demands fifth gear, not third.
It’s also OK to acknowledge that Nylander hasn’t played particularly well this season. He hasn’t shot the puck as much as he did in potting a career-best 31 goals last season nor attacked the net with the same fervour. He’s been dialled in some nights and hasn’t been noticeable at all on others. Slumps happen. But in Nylander’s case, it has reignited criticism that mostly died down last season.
“It’s kind of always been around me with that kind of stuff, so I’m kinda used to it,” Nylander said. “But I know I’ve underperformed, and I know I can do better. I’ve got levels to get to where I want to be.”
Nylander has flaws. So does every player in the National Hockey League. Those flaws can be acknowledged without it meaning he’s some irredeemable player who can’t be fixed and whom the organization needs to trade now. Every slump or disappointment doesn’t mean it’s time to deal him. Reminder: The Leafs want to keep as many good players as they possibly can. Nylander can be all those things and still be hugely valuable on a team that competes for the Cup. Remember how it turned out for Phil Kessel in Pittsburgh? Is Nylander’s place in the Leafs’ pecking order all that different from what Kessel’s was with the Penguins?
Often, it’s felt like the conversation around Nylander in Toronto has strayed too far in the direction of those flaws (not unlike Kessel).
His flaws are magnified in a way that those of other players on the team are not. A Nylander giveaway draws far more scowls than a similar turnover by Mitch Marner.
Is that because of the way he looks? His hair? His (apparent) attitude? His dad? His background? His vibe? His daring contract dispute? How much of that stuff should even matter?
Maybe it’s because Nylander’s flaws look like flaws of effort. Something he can choose to improve if he actually wants to.
But maybe Nylander is just wired this way. Maybe it’s unreasonable to ever expect him to be Hyman in the effort department. Perhaps his gifts simply lie elsewhere.
It’s OK to acknowledge the flaws without allowing them to drown out everything else that makes Nylander special. The way he sees the ice. Those edges. That shot. Those hands. That passing ability.
You can make the case, pretty strongly I’d say, that no one on the Leafs is quite the same level of a dual-threat playmaker as Nylander.
Auston Matthews has the shot, obviously, but he’s not quite the passer that Nylander is. Marner gets the slight edge as a passer, but he can’t rip it like Nylander.
Since the start of last season, Nylander is second on the Leafs in five-on-five goals and assists.
It’s also OK to concede that there are parts of Nylander’s game that need work. A sparkling expected goals number doesn’t mean he’s without faults. He absolutely needs to perform better in the playoffs. (And it’s in there: Nylander inspired as much fear, arguably, as Matthews in 2017 when the Leafs pushed the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals to the edge.)
That’s the thing, too. Nylander isn’t a finished product. He won’t turn 25 until May. This is only his fifth full NHL season. There’s still room for him to grow, still time for him to sand down some of the rough patches, including the ones we’ve seen this season.
“First of all, get some shots to the net,” Nylander said of needed improvements. “I think I’ve had one, two shots a game, and they haven’t even really been good shots.”
Nylander has also been focusing on getting his feet moving with and without the puck. And those feet were definitely moving against the Flames. Nylander had it going before he stuffed the tying goal past David Rittich in the last minutes of regulation, then flicked a shot up and over him in OT.
Early in the first, as he drove the middle, Nylander had the puck stolen away by Noah Hanifin. He promptly stole it right back. It was the same story later in a head-to-head battle with Mikael Backlund. He finished with a season-high six shots.
“I think that when he’s skating and when he’s putting himself in good spots, I think you see the results,” Hyman said.
Even with his sluggish start to the season, Nylander is on an 82-game pace of 27 goals and 63 points. That contract — with the $6.9 million cap hit — will only look better in time. Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen are both pulling down $8 million on the cap annually for the Predators as their second- and third-line centres. They have three goals and 12 points combined this season. Clayton Keller is pulling in north of $7 million for the Coyotes. Matthew Tkachuk is in Year 2 of a three-year bridge contract that carries a $7 million cap hit. After that, a seriously big payday.
Nylander’s deal has another three seasons left after this one.
The list of Leafs over the past 40 years with more points to start their career (first 328 games) than Nylander (237) includes Marner, Matthews, Rick Vaive and Vincent Damphousse. That’s it.
He’s a good player. He’s not perfect. That’s OK.
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Hyman concluded, “and can’t speak higher of him.”
I'd link, but it's behind a paywall....
Jonas Siegel
Five Leafs stuck around for a shooting competition long after practice wrapped up on Tuesday.
Firing on Joseph Woll, the acting backup netminder: Nic Petan, Pierre Engvall, Travis Boyd and William Nylander, the fourth-highest-paid player on the team.
"That was sick!” Woll exclaimed after Nylander flung a shot past him in what seemed like slow motion.
When they were done, Nylander helped his teammates fish all the pucks off the ice and scoop them into a bucket.
“You don’t do the things that he does away from the rink and when people don’t watch if you don’t care and you don’t love the game and you don’t want to get better and you don’t want to help your team win,” Zach Hyman said after Nylander helped the Leafs beat the Flames, 2-1, with two goals, including the overtime winner. “I think the guys in the locker room know how much he cares and how much he wants to win. But sometimes he just gets misunderstood.”
Nylander has played 328 games in a Leafs uniform, plus 25 more in the playoffs. It’s time for the misunderstanding to stop. It’s time for the never-ending referendum to end.
That post-practice stuff isn’t out of the norm for Nylander.
He’s usually among the last to leave the ice and almost always among the first to get out there. You’re bound to spot him, with a puck in tow, working on those devastating turnbacks. You’re just as likely to see him playing keep-away with Zach Bogosian, setting up Mikko Lehtonen for one-timers or, as was the case before that Tuesday practice, seeking advice for his backhand shot from former Leaf and current development coach Nik Antropov. The point is the perception of Nylander as someone who doesn’t care, doesn’t try and isn’t invested in the Leafs, none of it really matches with what goes on behind the scenes.
In other words: He’s misunderstood.
“People get on him a lot, obviously,” Hyman said. “I think that people don’t realize how much he cares and how much he wants to win, so to see him be the hero tonight and get the last two goals there, it’s just great. I’m just really happy for him.”
Part of the problem with the never-ending debate surrounding Nylander in Toronto is that it has devolved into sides. You’re either for him or against him. You either appreciate his gifts and believe in his immense ability to impact the game or you dwell on his flaws and insist the Leafs would be better off with a feistier competitor in his place.
One or the other.
Defenders will point to the entries, the five-on-five production, the dazzling displays of skills. Critics will bury him for the way he floats and his lack of apparent care, and they will insist it’s past time the Leafs traded him.
All of it needs to end. It’s time for the two sides to unite.
For one thing, it’s OK to acknowledge the flaws, as Sheldon Keefe pointed out Wednesday night.
“Why is he misunderstood?” Keefe said. “I think Willy has to own some of that. He’s got to find more consistency in his game. He and I have talked a lot about those kind of things. He’s got to be engaged and good without the puck. Part of it, perhaps, is being misunderstood, but part of it is just he’s still got to grow as a player.”
It’s true that for all the dedication Nylander demonstrates away from the game, he can be maddeningly inconsistent when it’s actually game time. That engagement issue Keefe mentioned, that’s been hanging around — fairly — since the time Keefe was coaching Nylander with the Marlies. It persists to this day. It’s real. And it has been an issue in particular at playoff time when the game demands fifth gear, not third.
It’s also OK to acknowledge that Nylander hasn’t played particularly well this season. He hasn’t shot the puck as much as he did in potting a career-best 31 goals last season nor attacked the net with the same fervour. He’s been dialled in some nights and hasn’t been noticeable at all on others. Slumps happen. But in Nylander’s case, it has reignited criticism that mostly died down last season.
“It’s kind of always been around me with that kind of stuff, so I’m kinda used to it,” Nylander said. “But I know I’ve underperformed, and I know I can do better. I’ve got levels to get to where I want to be.”
Nylander has flaws. So does every player in the National Hockey League. Those flaws can be acknowledged without it meaning he’s some irredeemable player who can’t be fixed and whom the organization needs to trade now. Every slump or disappointment doesn’t mean it’s time to deal him. Reminder: The Leafs want to keep as many good players as they possibly can. Nylander can be all those things and still be hugely valuable on a team that competes for the Cup. Remember how it turned out for Phil Kessel in Pittsburgh? Is Nylander’s place in the Leafs’ pecking order all that different from what Kessel’s was with the Penguins?
Often, it’s felt like the conversation around Nylander in Toronto has strayed too far in the direction of those flaws (not unlike Kessel).
His flaws are magnified in a way that those of other players on the team are not. A Nylander giveaway draws far more scowls than a similar turnover by Mitch Marner.
Is that because of the way he looks? His hair? His (apparent) attitude? His dad? His background? His vibe? His daring contract dispute? How much of that stuff should even matter?
Maybe it’s because Nylander’s flaws look like flaws of effort. Something he can choose to improve if he actually wants to.
But maybe Nylander is just wired this way. Maybe it’s unreasonable to ever expect him to be Hyman in the effort department. Perhaps his gifts simply lie elsewhere.
It’s OK to acknowledge the flaws without allowing them to drown out everything else that makes Nylander special. The way he sees the ice. Those edges. That shot. Those hands. That passing ability.
You can make the case, pretty strongly I’d say, that no one on the Leafs is quite the same level of a dual-threat playmaker as Nylander.
Auston Matthews has the shot, obviously, but he’s not quite the passer that Nylander is. Marner gets the slight edge as a passer, but he can’t rip it like Nylander.
Since the start of last season, Nylander is second on the Leafs in five-on-five goals and assists.
It’s also OK to concede that there are parts of Nylander’s game that need work. A sparkling expected goals number doesn’t mean he’s without faults. He absolutely needs to perform better in the playoffs. (And it’s in there: Nylander inspired as much fear, arguably, as Matthews in 2017 when the Leafs pushed the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals to the edge.)
That’s the thing, too. Nylander isn’t a finished product. He won’t turn 25 until May. This is only his fifth full NHL season. There’s still room for him to grow, still time for him to sand down some of the rough patches, including the ones we’ve seen this season.
“First of all, get some shots to the net,” Nylander said of needed improvements. “I think I’ve had one, two shots a game, and they haven’t even really been good shots.”
Nylander has also been focusing on getting his feet moving with and without the puck. And those feet were definitely moving against the Flames. Nylander had it going before he stuffed the tying goal past David Rittich in the last minutes of regulation, then flicked a shot up and over him in OT.
Early in the first, as he drove the middle, Nylander had the puck stolen away by Noah Hanifin. He promptly stole it right back. It was the same story later in a head-to-head battle with Mikael Backlund. He finished with a season-high six shots.
“I think that when he’s skating and when he’s putting himself in good spots, I think you see the results,” Hyman said.
Even with his sluggish start to the season, Nylander is on an 82-game pace of 27 goals and 63 points. That contract — with the $6.9 million cap hit — will only look better in time. Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen are both pulling down $8 million on the cap annually for the Predators as their second- and third-line centres. They have three goals and 12 points combined this season. Clayton Keller is pulling in north of $7 million for the Coyotes. Matthew Tkachuk is in Year 2 of a three-year bridge contract that carries a $7 million cap hit. After that, a seriously big payday.
Nylander’s deal has another three seasons left after this one.
The list of Leafs over the past 40 years with more points to start their career (first 328 games) than Nylander (237) includes Marner, Matthews, Rick Vaive and Vincent Damphousse. That’s it.
He’s a good player. He’s not perfect. That’s OK.
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Hyman concluded, “and can’t speak higher of him.”
I agree, their defense looks very much improved.
Kudos to Dubas for bringing in some good pieces and Keefe for setting up good structure.
Pretty much.....
Note: I'm not saying it, Jonas Siegel is.
I look at Willie as this Maple Leafs squad's Frank Mahovlich.
Leafs fans were not particularly fond of The Big M, as he sometimes didn't appear to be hustling.
Funny how the puck was always on his stick, or headed to a teammate's, or in the back of the net.
Maple Leafs fans of that era were more fond of someone like, hey, wait for it....Eddie Shack!
That has been a long time Toronto fan thing, fan favourites are the grinders, the guys who 'appear' to be hustling. Appearances can be deceiving (I'm not knocking Shack, Eddie could play).
Puck retrieval from the net during practice is a big thing now, that's nice.
How about a more insightful, balanced article, my gospel to your gospel.
Two questions Maple Leafs' Nylander should consider after polarizing week - Sportsnet.ca
How about a more insightful, balanced article, my gospel to your gospel.
Two questions Maple Leafs' Nylander should consider after polarizing week - Sportsnet.ca
I do not at all love him. I feel that overall he has flaws but he is an asset to the team. I have a balanced view of him. But in your mind, anyone who does not think that he is a significant liability and a cancer to the mood of the team "loves him". The extreme position is yours.
