Maple Leafs: William Nylander Is a Superstar: How Do Those Words Taste?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team built to win now.

The Toronto Maple Leafs began the 2021 season with a solid victory of the Montreal Canadiens, and it was a victory that came, in part, due to William Nylander’s two goal performance.

For Nylander it was his sixth goal in his last eight regular season games.  He had two goals in the teams’s intrasquad game that closed out training camp, and an incredibly strong playoff performance last season against Columbus.

Nylander has made a complete fool out of the people who ignored the evidence and spent hours trying to run him out of town.  That goes double for a rabid Toronto media who floated ridiculous rumour after ridiculous rumour, who said the Leafs couldn’t have four superstar forwards and who went on TV every day to complain (for reasons unexplained) about and blame him for everything wrong in Leafs Land.

It’s a good thing the Toronto Maple Leafs actually have competent management for the first time in their history as a team, because all you had to do was tune into Sportsnet at any time over the last two years to know that the former management team would have traded him for Matt Martin.

Nylander a Legitimate Superstar

Watching Nylander – who, statistically, has openly contradicted his critics since day one – is a pleasure and one of the great mysteries in life is why people just randomly chose to collectively dislike one of the best players their favorite team ever drafted or played.

Nylander scored 31 goals last year, as the team’s 4th best PP option, and led the NHL in net-front goals, essentially becoming a de facto power-forward, even though he doesn’t play in a way that suggests that.

In the last three seasons before this (203 games for Nylander, 224 for Marner) the Toronto Maple Leafs (as a team) get more shot-attempts, and shots, and goals when Nylander is on the ice vs when Marner is, though the numbers are extremely close.

When it comes to total points, Marner scores 2.39 points per 60 minutes of 5v5 ice time, while Nylander scores 2.21.  Those numbers include the season where Nylander had such a low shooting percentage that people turned on him, by the way.

The fact is, the only difference between Marner and Nylander comes on the power-play.  At even-strength they are both total superstars.  The four million difference in salary is crazy and unfair, but really, who cares?

Nylander tied for the 8th highest goal total last year at 5v5, and he had more 5v5 points than Aho, Laine, Ovechkin, Eichel or Gallagher, five NHL players who no one goes on TV to try and  trade every single game. (All stats from naturalstattrick.com). 

There is nothing wrong with being wrong.  But there is something wrong with ignoring the evidence and stubbornly trying to run a guy out of town for reasons having to do with your own ego. The old-school Toronto Media tried their best, and for once they did not get their way.  I am not one to say I told you so, but I am one to write it out using six-hundred words or so.

There are so many lessons to take from the Nylander situation.  Don’t ignore statistics, listen to people who don’t have obvious grudges.  Don’t just make up  your mind and stick with it despite all reason.  Don’t get jealous of someone with better hair than you.  Don’t believe everything you read.  Etc.

William Nylander is a superstar.  Full stop.  He’s every bit as good as Mitch Marner, and as I write this, getting the last laugh, I must say, it’s fun to be right.  Hit me up on Twitter and I’ll mail you a free packet of soya sauce to eat your words with.