William Nylander was never the right player to sign a contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs again last season. William Nylander is now among the top paid players in the NHL after agreeing to an eight-year agreement worth $11.5 million AAV. But did the Toronto Maple Leafs make the incorrect payment? I hate to break the news to all of the supporters, but Mitch Marner is far superior to Nylander; but, since Nylander has a long-term contract, people seem to have forgotten that.
Marner is just as capable of scoring goals as Nylander, but he is superior on the defensive end and has better hands and awareness. You need to delve a little deeper into the numbers if you want to tell me that Nylander is a superior player because he finished with 13 more points than Marner last year and scored 40 goals twice.
Nylander is more resilient than Marner because he doesn’t miss many games, but Marner hasn’t missed a lot of time either. Actually, the 2021–22 season was the one in which he missed the most games, and it was statistically the best season Nylander has ever had. Marner would have had an 82-game season with 40 goals and 110 points if he had finished with 35 goals and 97 points in 72 games. When you combine that with his ability to score against the best defensive units on the opposing team and play the first penalty kill, Marner is unquestionably the superior player.
In my opinion, the team should sell Marner, but after giving it some thought, it seems obvious that keeping Nylander was the better decision. Nylander is comparable to Phil Kessel, who is undoubtedly a winning combination for a Stanley Cup-winning team, but he won’t win the championship by himself. Conversely, Marner is comparable to Patrick Kane in that he has the ability to carry the squad and lead them to victory. It’s actually absurd that the Leafs gave Nylander a $11.5 million annual contract since Marner’s hasn’t had his contract renegotiated; the organisation would have been better served trying to win this season while Nylander was only making
