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Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Grades 2019-20 Regular Season

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 20: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images).
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 20: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images). /

William Nylander

Where do we start?

How about with pointing out that during his so called “bad” season last year, Nylander was among the NHL’s leaders in zone entries, zone exits, and creating scoring chances.

Sure, he had low totals, but he shooting percentage went in the tank, and his two most common linemates scored at or below 4th line rates (Connor Brown and Patrick Marleau).

So it wasn’t really a comeback, as much as it was a luck correction.

Nylander spent half his time with Matthews and half his time with Tavares, and an assortment of wingers (including an unfortunate 100 minutes with Kapanen).   It didn’t really matter who he played with, the numbers are nuts.

55% Corsi

53% Fenwick

54% shots percentage

54% Expected Goals percentage

55% scoring chance percentage

54% dangerous chance percentage

1.6 WAR, 31 goals, and he led the NHL in net-front goals as he inexplicably became somewhat of a power forward.

His 38 5v5 points were the 13th highest total, tied for 25th most, and just two points behind potential Hart Trophy winner Elias Pettersson.

The only thing stopping Nylander from being a point-per-game player is the fact that he is the fourth option on the power-play and doesn’t get the amount of touches a player of his stature would normally expect.

Either way, there is one word to sum up Nylander’s season and that word is WOW!

WILLIAM NYLANDER. A+. . RW.

Next. Leafs Top 10 Prospects 2020 Update. dark

That is it for the forward section of your Toronto Maple Leafs player grades. Kyle Clifford, Adam Brooks, Nic Petan and Denis Malgin were not graded due to their small sample of games played.

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