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Toronto Maple Leafs: William Nylander Should not be Traded

By Maaz Rajah |
Mar 9, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (29) is congratulated after scoring a gal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (29) is congratulated after scoring a gal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Every year something preposterous gets suggested in the Toronto Maple Leafs media, this year it’s the “trade Nylander for a defenseman” chatter.

It all began mid-season when Craig Button said that William Nylander would not be a Toronto Maple Leafs long term. These comments sent Leafs Nation into a frenzy, but in the end everything settled down. That is, until yesterday went Button decided to use the words “trade” and “Nylander” in the same sentence, again.

My response?

No.

Will Ny the Scoring Guy

William Nylander had a historic season. Although he was overshadowed by his linemate, Auston Matthews, Nylander’s season was nothing short of incredible. Scoring 22G and 39A for a total of 61 points, Nylander enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons ever.

So good in fact, let me show you some of the players he outscored.

Guys like Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Bure, Mats Sundin, and Ilya Kovalchuk to name a few.

At the age of 21, Nylander is still only scraping the surface of his potential and he’s already an offensive dynamo. His shot from the circle is one of the deadliest in the NHL, his zone entries are the best on the team, and in terms of possession, Nylander is a beast.

Nylander The Advanced Stat King

Specifically, CF% Rel. This stat indicates how a player performs relative to his team.

Since 2007-2008, only five rookies have had a better CF% Rel than Nylander while playing at least 80 games. Those players are: Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane, Filip Forsberg, Anthony Duclair and John Tavares. That’s it. Four of the names above are perennial all stars and at least three are guaranteed future Hall of Famers.

To further put into perspective just how dominant the young Swede was, here’s a list of players that Nylander had a better CF% Rel than:

Jonathan Toews, Johnny Gaudreau, Max Pacioretty, Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Jonathan Drouin, Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl, Gabriel Landeskog, Claude Giroux and so on.

Is Nylander better than all those players? Of course not, but what it proves is that William Nylander is already among the elite players in the NHL.

Age is not a factor when making this statement, William Nylander is elite.

William Nylander The Maple Leaf

Early on in the season, Nylander found himself in coach Babcock’s dog house. He was openly criticized about his lack of play away from the puck.

Like all great players do, Nylander rose to the challenge. By season’s end, he was the Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd best player, and at times, the best. He bought into Mike Babcock’s system and excelled in it. He became a better player within a year under Babcock, imagine six more.

More from Editor In Leaf

Unless teams come knocking on the door with Erik Karlsson or Victor Hedman, William Nylander is going to be on the Toronto Maple Leafs for a long time.

stats: hockey-reference.com, NHL.com

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