Taylor Hall
Since Taylor Hall was the last early twenties super-star forward to get traded, and since the Toronto Maple Leafs fans who want to trade Nylander always suggest trading him for a defenseman, I think it’s worthwhile to compare their seasons last year.
Hall: 2.42 P/60, 51.28 CF%
Nylander: 2.38 P/60 50.17 CF%
I’m not trying to tell you that William Nylander is as good as Taylor Hall. Hardly anyone is that good. But as you can see at 5v5, they were pretty close.
Trading Taylor Hall is the single biggest mistake anyone in the NHL has made in the last decade.
Therefore trading William Nylander would probably be the second.
Hall won the Hart Trophy and Nylander had a pretty similar year, at least 5v5 where 90% of the game is played.
I don’t know if people are just mad that he held out, if they are desperately in need of a scapegoat, if they have gone insane or if they just don’t like how pretty he is, but there are no good reasons to trade Nylander and plenty of bad ones.
Nothing I can find explains the unpopularity of William Nylander, other than the fact that he held out. Who cares? People might want to remember that the architect of this team, Brendan Shanahan held out twice in his career, despite being a good ol’ Canadian boy.
Nylander is one of the best under 24 players in the world. He and Auston Matthews combine to be the highest scoring pairing per minute in the NHL. He has the potentials – based entirely off his past performance – to win an NHL scoring title.
And, finally, William Nylander is only 23. You don’t trade 23 year olds with this kind of potential. Not unless your name is Peter Chiarellli and someone offers you a defensive defenseman!!!
Nylander’s contract for under $7 million per season for the next five years stands a very high chance of being team friendly. If he lives up to even 80% of his potential, he is going to bring great value.
Oh, and he can play centre.
Oh, and the GM gave him a verbal no-trade clause.
Nylander isn’t going anywhere. This is a great thing for the ladies of Toronto, but an even better thing for fans of the team.