Mar 20, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (29) shoots the puck against the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Boston 4-2. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Each week, or, as time or events permit, the staff of Editor in Leaf gather around a very large, very round table and discuss a current issue about the Toronto Maple Leafs.
We all know that Mike Babcock said that he won’t. But is he telling the truth?
Keep in mind that Tyler Bozak is the current longest serving member of the team. It would have been disrespectful to essentially give his job to Nylander in public, while talking to reporters, after the season had just ended.
Nothing about Mike Babcock has ever suggested even the hint of not respecting his players or being an honorable guy, so I don’t think we can credit his statement with any veracity. He could also have been being 100% honest, but it’s impossible to know.
In light of Nylander’s MVP turn at the World Championships, the fact that centre is his natural position and that this was always thought to be the plan, it bears asking about.
Should the Toronto Maple Leafs make William Nylander a centre? Check out what our staff has to say, and leave your own thoughts in the comments.
Andrew Boehmer:
No way.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Tyler Bozak is a beast in the face-off dot (number seven overall in 2016-17 and yes, that matters) and I like William Nylander and Mitchell Marner on the wing, for now.
The chemistry built between Auston Matthews and Nylander is a beautiful thing and I would hate to break that up for little reason. But, if one of the two were to become center, it would be Nylander and not Marner.
Apr 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (29) .Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports. /
I think the potential for Willie to bulk up a bit more is there and from what I’ve seen, as more instinct than Marner at the position. No knock on Marner, though. I just think he needs to stick on Bozie’s wing a littler longer, but will eventually have to be shuffled bit because Bozak won’t be there forever.
Alex Hobson:
In my opinion, I think that they’re better off keeping Nylander at right wing alongside of Auston Matthews.
However, this depends on what they plan to do with Tyler Bozak next season.
If Bozak leaves, I think Nylander moving to the middle is a no-brainer, given that they don’t really have any depth after Kadri.
Apr 23, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak (42) . Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
But if Bozak stays, you definitely keep Nylander on the wing. His chemistry with Matthews last season was absolutely unbeatable and they complimented each other so well. In the end, it all depends on whether or not Bozak stays or goes.
Lauren Kelly:
Honestly, the Toronto Maple Leafs would probably be better off having one of Nylander or Marner down the middle in the future, but as of right now, Matthews and Nylander have too much chemistry to split them up..
Plus, as bad as they can be in their own end, JVR-Bozak-Marner was dynamite for the Leafs, putting up crazy points all season long.
The Leafs don’t seem to be in any rush to move either player to the centre ice position, and I agree. While they both had monster rookie seasons, Nylander and Marner still need at least another year before they play centre, because everyone knows it’s a totally different position than being a winger.
If the Leafs were to move one of them, I’d rather it be Nylander because that’s the position he grew up playing and is slightly better at faceoffs, while Marner only started playing centre in London a couple seasons ago.
Bozak’s contract is up at the end of next season, so this should be the season they ease one of Nylander/Marner into the middle of the ice if they don’t plan on resigning him. But for now, the Leafs should play it safe and stick with Bozak.
John Krpan:
The idea of moving the160lb Marner into the faceoff dot is absurd on its surface, as well as on every other level.
We barely thought he could play in the NHL before this season because of this size, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and try to make someone into something that they are not.
Moving Nylander to Center this season is very premature. He played 22 games at the end of the 2015/16 mostly under center because Babcock had no other option down the middle. If we see nylander at center next season it will and and should only be because of injuries.
Apr 8, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner (16) goes the boards against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
The Toronto Maple Leafs were fortunate not to lose many guys to injures this past season. Don’t expect that same luck to continue for another full season. Let’s keep Bozak, play Marner and Nylander on the wing, and if injuries occur we can put Nylander in there. But just because these kids have made the NHL, it doesn’t mean they are done learning.
James Tanner:
Oh Hell yes he should.
With respect to what appears to be 100% of my peers, I am going to have to board the bus to reality and give you guys the actual truth: William Nylander should be a full-time NHL centre.
Let us check off the objections one by one:
He needs more experience.
Every year a whole bunch of rookies come into the NHL. Many of these rookies are centres. Few, if any, are as good as William Nylander.
Sure, he might need to ease into the role and it might take him a while before he’s a legit #1 NHL centreman, but he’s a special player and if the Maple Leafs put him at 3C in the first game of the season, how many other teams have a player like that on their third line?
Nylander is a franchise player. If your franchise player is a centreman, you don’t convert his position just because you happen to have other good centres.
2. He is not good at defense.
Again, not true. Nylander is a 52% possession player who drove the possession for every line he was one. No matter who played with him, they got better. (Stats.hockey.analysis).
Since the Leafs always get more shots when he’s on the ice than they allow, the argument that he is not good at defense is absurd.
Besides, what does it matter? Tyler Bozak is terrible at defense. Despite facing the easiest competition among the team’s centres, Bozak allowed the most shots against per 60 than any other C on the team.
Nylander is better than Bozak in every way. Bozak is terrible at defense and does not drive possession. Nylander isn’t and does. This is a no-brainer if there ever was one.
Faceoffs? Please. Let’s think about this: Bozak is the 7th best in the NHL at draws (according to Andrew, above) and yet no centre on the team allows more shots against. Even though, when on the road, teams send their best players out against Matthews, and at home Babcock puts Kadri on the other team’s best players.
OK, so Bozak is the best at faceoffs, but he gets the least points and has the worst defensive stats on the team. How does this help?
3. Auston Matthew’s Chemistry
Yes, the two of them were amazing together. But Nylander makes everyone he skates with better. Matthews didn’t last year, but it’s a good bet that he will. (WOWY charts @stats.hockey.analysis).
Playing two franchise-level players together, when each of them will otherwise elevate two winger’s games into their own sphere of greatness, just diminishes what you can get from each player.
It is better to have two really good lines than one amazing line.
Yes, Matthews and Nylander have chemistry, but they are both pretty much guaranteed to have chemistry with anyone they play with because of how good they are. Furthermore, the Leafs have extra wingers and a dearth of centres, so it just makes sense to make this move.
Add to that the fact that teams with 3 x #1 centres have a distinct match-up advantage they can exploit in every game. It’s very hard to exploit matchups in a salary cap system and this would give the Leafs a massive advantage over most other teams.
Matthews-Nylander-Kadri gives the Toronto Maple Leafs the best 1-2-3 centre combo in the NHL, and I can’t believe people want to pass that up in favor of Tyler Bozak.
