I wonder if they’re trying to increase his trade value or if they want to try him at centre with new line combinations
McGrevin
Well that’s a twist
Volderon90
He has the speed to play centre and the size. Just needs to backcheck consistently. Maybe Tavares on his wing would be good
DougFordsGamblingAds
Edit: Tavares is staying at Center.
1. Auston Matthews 2. John Tavares 3. William Nylander 4. David Kämpf
Musselsini
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Timmins
Domi – Tavares – Marner
Knies – Nylander – Jarnkrok
McMann – Kampf – Reaves
They’ve done it. The perfect roster.
Mr_Fysh
This could be great
Nameless908
Fuck yea. Willy has peaked as a winger IMO. This will give him another level to reach and JT can shift to the wing taking some of the pressure off his 200ft game which is naturally slowing down.
leafsfan96
I hope they give him a fair shake here. He was a C in the A and I believe a bit in the short call-up spurt before his first full season. Whenever they’ve tried him there since it was done mid playoffs and typically without complimentary wingers, so he was set up to fail. He has the puck carrying ability, it’s just if he can be solid enough in his own end without the puck.
If it works, great, it adds some roster flexibility and adds a legit option at a premium position. If it doesn’t, we may risk a few points early in the year. worth the risk IMO
Mapleleaffan149
Makes sense , JT looked pretty elite on the wing . Gives the team more options at the least
Murky-Smoke
I’ve been saying Nylander at C for a couple seasons now, and people downvoted me to oblivion.
The real question is whether he is Centering JT or being moved to 3C.
adwrx
JT moving to the wing, this should help his game
CMDRShepardN7
Gentleman, you had my curiosity… but now you have my attention.
georgie336
YES – I wanted this last year. Give him a full camp and season playing C. It was always so unfair to throw him in as c in a playoff game and then everyone piles on him saying he can’t play C.
I’m so high on Willy at C! Play him there and sign him for 8 years.
Hope it works, ’cause JT’s foot speed is not what it was and JT is so good on the boards and in the corners. But this feels like one of those things where if it was going to work, it would have happened years ago.
sokocanuck
If Nylander can show that he’s a legit top-6 NHL center, then there will probably be more opportunity for him to get $$/term on his next deal, since he’d effectively be taking JT’s spot when his deal ends at the end of next season (24/25)
The Leafs can pay a PPG #2C 9.5/8 but they can’t pay a winger that.
Aedan2016
Good thing it’s only training camp.
We’ve been down this road
Carparker19
I don’t understand the positive comments tbh. They try this for like a week every year and it never works.
ElephantShell34
Big brain moves: play him at a position he isn’t comfortable with and away from the other top forwards so his production declines and you can extend him cheaper. Then immediately move him back to Auston’s wing.
riko77can
Leafs doing Willy a solid entering UFA negotiation as a C.
reevoknows
My problem with this is that our best line to go against another teams top line is still Bert-Papi-Mitch which leaves Knies-Willy-JT as line 2 and I just don’t think it makes any sense to do that, might as well keep JT at 2C.
FlapjackFiddle
I LOVE IT
CMDRShepardN7
If he does this, don’t put him with JT.
Let Willy center a line filled with speed.
keeeeener
Pretty sure they plan on moving Tavares to the wing. Maybe going to wait until Willy gets the hang of center.
power_of_funk
If this means they’re just pushing Tavares to the wing than this is dumb imo. I’d rather run Matthews-Nylander-Tavares down the middle.
Knies-Matthews-Marner
Domi-Nylander-Bertuzzi
Robertson-Tavares-Jarnkrok
Lafferty-Kampf-Reaves
Kid-Goose
Yearly “were gonna try Nylander at Centre” thing huh
cdown13
They are moving Nylander to C to up his value for a trade.
Defiant_Cup9835
This will last a grand total of 4 preseason games before they put him back on the wing.
FansTurnOnYou
My personal feeling is that Willy is more natural at center. He’s very aware of positioning and how plays develop and *sometimes* I think people mistake him not over-committing on a play and getting caught as aloofness. He also seems to be more engaged as a center. It doesn’t make him immune to lazy shifts still, but he seems more interested when he has more responsibility.
OneNutPhil
YES FINALLY
I’ve been waiting for this since Nylander joined the team. This is best case scenario if it works.
Francis33
Robertson -Nylander-Domi 👀👀👀
Arbszy
Tavares 3rd line C? or Wing? maybe
postmodern_lasagna
Could have 3 nasty duos.
Bertuzzi-Matthews-xxx
xxx-Nylander-Marner
Knies-Tavares-xxx
Bertuzzi is a like a high end Bunting. Will complement Matthews like Bunting did but also have better finish. Marner helps balance out Nylander defensively and then we have a roommate line 3. You can plug in 3 of Domi, Jarnkrok, Robertson, or Lafferty into the other spots. Even Kampf because, let’s face it, a line with Kampf and Reaves on it will not be a shutdown line and Kampf has played RW in the past. Once we’ve accrued enough cap space and can run 12 forwards:
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Jarnkrok
Domi-Nylander-Marner
Knies-Tavares-Kampf
Gregor-Lafferty-Reaves
Mathews likes playing with Jarnkrok. Domi would sign a sweetheart deal if he gets to play in TO with elite players. 4th line is bang and crash and 3rd line is a solid two way line (Knies is great at puck battles).
Big_Albatross_3050
Good experiment imo, he’s played C on Team Sweden before to pretty good results. If we can run Tavares and Nylander as 2a and 2b Centers that firstly beefs up our top 9 makeup significantly and also justifies giving him the near double digit extention he apparently wants. Especially once Tavares expires and comes back on a cheaper contract
Biologyboii
Matthews is better with Nylander. The possession metrics with those two are incredible. And more possession means more opportunities for Matthews.
I don’t think Willy will last at C, if he’s not there he should be with 34
_cob_
Shift JT to the wing but he can still take draws for Willy. I don’t hate this at all.
thebartdie
I don’t know if they intend on actually moving him to centre and Tavares to LW, but if so, we would all of a sudden have gone from having too many RW and no LW to too many LW and not enough RW.
On LW we would have:
Tavares Bert Domi
Knies
Robertson potentially at some point???
​
And on RW:
Marner
Jarnkrok
.
.
.
.
David Ayres?
Ryan Reaves
warmachinae
This is such a spicy tidbit. Could mean many different things.
1. Maybe they are shopping him and teams want to know if he can be a center. Would make him incredibly valuable and open up a lot of destinations.
2. He’s just swapping with Tavares and JT is going full time wing. Kinda dissapointing if this ends up being the case.
3. Theyre going Matthews-Tavares-Nylander-Kampf down the middle. Big if true.
_posii
Kinda want them to try Nylander-Marner and Matthews-Tavares.
Tavares-Nylander never really worked and I don’t think swapping their position makes a huge difference. Get the Selke candidates on each line instead of loading them up.
38 Comments
I wonder if they’re trying to increase his trade value or if they want to try him at centre with new line combinations
Well that’s a twist
He has the speed to play centre and the size. Just needs to backcheck consistently. Maybe Tavares on his wing would be good
Edit: Tavares is staying at Center.
1. Auston Matthews
2. John Tavares
3. William Nylander
4. David Kämpf
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Timmins
Domi – Tavares – Marner
Knies – Nylander – Jarnkrok
McMann – Kampf – Reaves
They’ve done it. The perfect roster.
This could be great
Fuck yea. Willy has peaked as a winger IMO. This will give him another level to reach and JT can shift to the wing taking some of the pressure off his 200ft game which is naturally slowing down.
I hope they give him a fair shake here. He was a C in the A and I believe a bit in the short call-up spurt before his first full season. Whenever they’ve tried him there since it was done mid playoffs and typically without complimentary wingers, so he was set up to fail. He has the puck carrying ability, it’s just if he can be solid enough in his own end without the puck.
If it works, great, it adds some roster flexibility and adds a legit option at a premium position. If it doesn’t, we may risk a few points early in the year. worth the risk IMO
Makes sense , JT looked pretty elite on the wing . Gives the team more options at the least
I’ve been saying Nylander at C for a couple seasons now, and people downvoted me to oblivion.
The real question is whether he is Centering JT or being moved to 3C.
JT moving to the wing, this should help his game
Gentleman, you had my curiosity… but now you have my attention.
YES – I wanted this last year. Give him a full camp and season playing C. It was always so unfair to throw him in as c in a playoff game and then everyone piles on him saying he can’t play C.
I’m so high on Willy at C! Play him there and sign him for 8 years.
Lol [didn’t we do this last year?](https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/william-nylander-at-center-it-looks-like-the-maple-leafs-will-at-least-try-it) I feel like this is the kind of thing you want to try early in the training camp because it either works and you need more time to build up chemistry and for Willy to learn how to centre at an NHL level or it doesn’t work and you can dismiss it and not waste time later.
Hope it works, ’cause JT’s foot speed is not what it was and JT is so good on the boards and in the corners. But this feels like one of those things where if it was going to work, it would have happened years ago.
If Nylander can show that he’s a legit top-6 NHL center, then there will probably be more opportunity for him to get $$/term on his next deal, since he’d effectively be taking JT’s spot when his deal ends at the end of next season (24/25)
The Leafs can pay a PPG #2C 9.5/8 but they can’t pay a winger that.
Good thing it’s only training camp.
We’ve been down this road
I don’t understand the positive comments tbh. They try this for like a week every year and it never works.
Big brain moves: play him at a position he isn’t comfortable with and away from the other top forwards so his production declines and you can extend him cheaper. Then immediately move him back to Auston’s wing.
Leafs doing Willy a solid entering UFA negotiation as a C.
My problem with this is that our best line to go against another teams top line is still Bert-Papi-Mitch which leaves Knies-Willy-JT as line 2 and I just don’t think it makes any sense to do that, might as well keep JT at 2C.
I LOVE IT
If he does this, don’t put him with JT.
Let Willy center a line filled with speed.
Pretty sure they plan on moving Tavares to the wing. Maybe going to wait until Willy gets the hang of center.
If this means they’re just pushing Tavares to the wing than this is dumb imo. I’d rather run Matthews-Nylander-Tavares down the middle.
Knies-Matthews-Marner
Domi-Nylander-Bertuzzi
Robertson-Tavares-Jarnkrok
Lafferty-Kampf-Reaves
Yearly “were gonna try Nylander at Centre” thing huh
They are moving Nylander to C to up his value for a trade.
This will last a grand total of 4 preseason games before they put him back on the wing.
My personal feeling is that Willy is more natural at center. He’s very aware of positioning and how plays develop and *sometimes* I think people mistake him not over-committing on a play and getting caught as aloofness. He also seems to be more engaged as a center. It doesn’t make him immune to lazy shifts still, but he seems more interested when he has more responsibility.
YES FINALLY
I’ve been waiting for this since Nylander joined the team. This is best case scenario if it works.
Robertson -Nylander-Domi 👀👀👀
Tavares 3rd line C? or Wing? maybe
Could have 3 nasty duos.
Bertuzzi-Matthews-xxx
xxx-Nylander-Marner
Knies-Tavares-xxx
Bertuzzi is a like a high end Bunting. Will complement Matthews like Bunting did but also have better finish. Marner helps balance out Nylander defensively and then we have a roommate line 3. You can plug in 3 of Domi, Jarnkrok, Robertson, or Lafferty into the other spots. Even Kampf because, let’s face it, a line with Kampf and Reaves on it will not be a shutdown line and Kampf has played RW in the past. Once we’ve accrued enough cap space and can run 12 forwards:
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Jarnkrok
Domi-Nylander-Marner
Knies-Tavares-Kampf
Gregor-Lafferty-Reaves
Mathews likes playing with Jarnkrok. Domi would sign a sweetheart deal if he gets to play in TO with elite players. 4th line is bang and crash and 3rd line is a solid two way line (Knies is great at puck battles).
Good experiment imo, he’s played C on Team Sweden before to pretty good results. If we can run Tavares and Nylander as 2a and 2b Centers that firstly beefs up our top 9 makeup significantly and also justifies giving him the near double digit extention he apparently wants. Especially once Tavares expires and comes back on a cheaper contract
Matthews is better with Nylander. The possession metrics with those two are incredible. And more possession means more opportunities for Matthews.
I don’t think Willy will last at C, if he’s not there he should be with 34
Shift JT to the wing but he can still take draws for Willy. I don’t hate this at all.
I don’t know if they intend on actually moving him to centre and Tavares to LW, but if so, we would all of a sudden have gone from having too many RW and no LW to too many LW and not enough RW.
On LW we would have:
Tavares
Bert
Domi
Knies
Robertson potentially at some point???
​
And on RW:
Marner
Jarnkrok
.
.
.
.
David Ayres?
Ryan Reaves
This is such a spicy tidbit. Could mean many different things.
1. Maybe they are shopping him and teams want to know if he can be a center. Would make him incredibly valuable and open up a lot of destinations.
2. He’s just swapping with Tavares and JT is going full time wing. Kinda dissapointing if this ends up being the case.
3. Theyre going Matthews-Tavares-Nylander-Kampf down the middle. Big if true.
Kinda want them to try Nylander-Marner and Matthews-Tavares.
Tavares-Nylander never really worked and I don’t think swapping their position makes a huge difference. Get the Selke candidates on each line instead of loading them up.