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Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 Reasons Why There Is 0% Chance of a Nylander Trade

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 6: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on December 6, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 6: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on December 6, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
BOSTON, MA – APRIL 25: Toronto Maple Leafs right wing William Nylander (29) starts a rush up ice during Game 7 of the First Round for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 25, 2018, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 7-4. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Reason #3

Last season, Nylander had 45 5v5 points.  That ranked him 24th overall in the NHL, but that is a misleadingly low ranking due to how many ties there were.

45 5v5 points was the 11th highest total.  Taylor Hall, who won the Hart Trophy, had 46 5v5 points last year.

Additionally, Nylander played without Auston Matthews for 25% of his games,as he was injured.  Reasonably, that might be worth an extra five points, which would have put Nylander just outside the top five.

Just so we’re clear, last season Nylander, despite missing Matthews for a quarter of the games, finished just outside the top-ten in 5v5 scoring and ahead of such players as Phil Kessel, Vladimir Tarasenko, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sabastian Aho, Blake Wheeler, Braydon Point and John Tavares.

Given that he is about to turn 23, and has not yet reached his peak or his prime, you might not want to give up on a player who can do that.

If you put the expected power play totals of a first unit PP player onto Nylander’s 5v5 totals, you have a player that would have challenged for a top ten spot in league scoring at the age of 21.

At the very least, Nylander has the ability to challenge for scoring title one day.  Probably paired with Auston Matthews, with whom he has become one of the highest scoring combos, if not the absolute highest scoring, on a per minute basis, in the NHL.

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