2021 Toronto Maple Leafs Regular Season Forward Grades

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 29: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets set to jump onto the ice against the Edmonton Oilers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 29, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Oilers defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

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CALGARY, AB – APRIL 4: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images) /

William Nylander

Coming off a 31 goal breakout season last year, the most underrated player in the history of the NHL was once again one of the NHL’s best players this year.

Nylander scored 17 goals and 42 points in 51 games during the regular season, which is a lot better than it sounds when you consider that he plays on the second line, and only getting the fifth most power-play time on the team, not to mention the Leafs overall struggles with the man advantage.

Nylander scored over 2.3 points per 60 which is excellent first line production, and he had great advanced stats across the board, including a 58% expected goals rating. Nylander was the 30th highest scoring player in the NHL this year *5v5* and scored more per minute than such players as Braydon Point and Patrick Kane.

He was also the Leafs best player in the playoffs. If he was a first line player getting top powerplay minutes he’d flirt with 90 points. We can only hope that eventually Kyle Dubas makes his haters look as silly as Nylander made his.

RW. . WILLIAM NYLANDER. A+.

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