Toronto Maple Leafs: William Nylander Did The Right Thing
Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander has been taking a beating for not taking a Steven Stamkos slapshot off his body.
Nylander, the Toronto Maple Leafs second leading scorer and tied for third in the NHL through Wednesday’s games, did the right thing by getting out of the way.
But the code!
Nonsense. Most “codes” in the NHL are merely a way for lesser players to lay claim to an attribute that is at the bottom of the ladder. Nylander’s decision is neither a negative towards his play, nor the resulting goal.
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The goal that happened after Stamkos’ release was 100% Matt Hunwick’s fault, if we’re looking for someone to blame. Hunwick decided it was Halloween and dressed up as a door, successfully, in front of Frederik Andersen. Andersen probably had to watch the replay five times before he actually saw the puck.
William Nylander doesn’t have to block that shot. Why? Because there’s a goalie in the net who is paid to make saves and Nylander is too important to this hockey team to have his feet shattered by Steven Stamkos in game six of the regular season.
The ribbing of Nylander started with Matthew Barnaby and Mike Commodore making fun of the Leafs star. Neither of whom have even a single percent of the talent Nylander has.
Commodore’s claim to fame is a bathrobe and a sunshine afro and Matthew Barnaby wouldn’t have even made the Toronto Maple Leafs roster last season in his prime.
Shots from the blueline that find the back of the net are generally the result of a deflection off of a player on the way in or the goaltender not seeing the puck. NHL goaltenders can easily grab pucks from the blueline they can see.
I’d much rather have William Nylander playing tonight against Florida than watching the Leafs game in the stands for the next two months with a broken body part. He’s developing, he’s in a groove and the Leafs still aren’t winning the Stanley Cup if he blocks that shot.
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