William Nylander was leading the Toronto Maple Leafs in goals and tied for the team lead in points when the first round of NHL All-Stars was announced last January. He didn’t make the team.
There’s no denying him now.
Nylander is again leading the Leafs in scoring (Auston Matthews leads the team in goals) and is tied with David Pastrnak and J.T. Miller for fifth in the league, in fact, with 50 points after a two-goal outing in a shutout win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Nobody in the NHL has registered a point in more games this season than Nylander. He’s collected at least one in 31 of 35 games. He should be a slam dunk to make his first All-Star team when the event rolls through Toronto early next month.
“I think it’s pretty obvious — there’s not much of a debate,” his linemate John Tavares concurred in conversation with The Athletic after an impactful all-around outing for Nylander in Los Angeles. “Top five in league scoring. Maybe been the most consistent player (in the NHL) all year. Obviously (Nikita) Kucherov’s probably been up there, (Nathan) MacKinnon’s been hot, but maybe no more consistent player (than him).
“He continues to get better and deserves that recognition,” Tavares said of the All-Star nod.
Only the NHL’s weird All-Star selection process (just pick the best players!) kept Nylander out of the event last season. The league selects one player from all 32 teams before fans take over and vote on the final 12 players.
The one-player-per-team rule ends up leaving deserving All-Stars out.
Nylander should be the first choice for the Leafs, slightly edging out Matthews. He’s been the more consistent of the two, producing and producing some more right from the early days of the season.
But Matthews will inevitably get voted in anyway and has been an All-Star in every season he’s been eligible. He and Mitch Marner represented the Leafs last season despite Nylander arguably outplaying them both.
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