All this talk about contracts and Nylander sightings, of fan hopes and anger, of media dartboards and laughable trades is nearly over. Thank God. And in its wake a decision will be announced before 5pm today.

Last season William scored 20 goals and had 41 assists for 61 points. Most of those were beside his often-injured centre, Auston Matthews, some were on the largely ho-hum second powerplay unit.

Points have been on the rise in the NHL recently. So 61 points isn’t what it once was relative to peers. William’s 21 year-old season ranked him 59th in PPG, just ahead of his draft twin Ehlers who went 29 and 31 for 60 points.

Those aren’t Draisatl numbers, so let’s get over the media spin, it never was a comparable, Leon ranked EIGHTH in the NHL in his contract year.

BUT I don’t want anyone to ever suggest that Nylander isn’t a promising, special top-line talent.

Added this Nick DeSouza thread because it complements the charts.

To remind Leafs fans what we have, I’m going to show some charts with brief comments. The intent isn’t to debate Nylander vs Marner, it’s to level set what a young star looks like, one who has the potential to have a brilliant season on his return. So whatever happens to William, respect the hockey player and remember it’s easy to get caught up in off-ice opinions as @JudeLeafs wrote yesterday in his powerful piece about owning our bias as fans.

Let’s walk through those hockey viz, shall we? And just marvel at the talent behind these charts.

Willie knows dat 5v5 game pretty gud

Nylander had a very good year at 5v5, from individual stats to relative shot share on ice

Player Traits by Ryan Stimson below. Bill Nye the passing guy. Twenty-one and at the 96th percentile in primary shot contributions — meaning he is elite at passing for shot opportunities and setting up or taking shots. This measure is more predictive of future primary points than even primary points themselves (goals + 1st assists).

His projectable scoring talent skews to top line, so says Dom Galamini’s viz.

He can skate out of the zone, into the zone, and every other freakin’ place on the rink he wants to go, @ShutdownLine’s microstat tracking data says so.

Willie was the transition force beside Matthews

Need Stretch passes? Need a one-timer? Need pass movement in the OZ? Call William Nylander at 1–888-REALGUD.

Babcock will want Nylander’s passing back on Auston’s line.

How do you sum it all up? Points, passing talent, scoring talent? Chace McCallum’s Goals Above Replacement estimates always made sense to me and here’s where William stood last year on GAR.

Nylander ranked second on GAR among Leafs forwards in 2017–18

Both he and Mitch looked very impressive last season when it came to their GAR percentile rank among forwards. Willie stood at the 91st percentile when it came to the offensive component.

Two very good young wingers in 2017–18

So my advice is just enjoy the talent this hockey player brings and toss all the other stuff in file 13 where it belongs. Have you seen how his summer gym work has developed his thighs? Willie is filling out and entering his prime. He won’t be easily pushed off the puck much longer, trust me.

And he is a very, very talented young player. Just remember that next time he steps on the ice. And remember that it isn’t a choice between Mitch and Willie. It’s a choice between being a middle-tier team or being elite.