Fans lash out at William Nylander after unforgivable play late in the 2nd.

If you could measure with some level of objectivity how popular Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander was at exactly this time last year and compare that to how popular he is within the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base right now, I think both you and William Nylander would be shocked at the results.

In that regard Nylander has made things very difficult for himself this season, first rubbing fans in Toronto the wrong way with a very long and seemingly regrettable contract hold out as a restricted free agent. Nylander would then only add to that frustration upon rejoining the team after signing his new deal by failing to perform up to the level that fans had come to expect of him in the past, and more importantly given the level of performance fans expected after he signed his big contract.

Nylander did manage to right the ship somewhat as the season would wear on and through the first 5 games of the Maple Leafs first round series against the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals he has picked up a pair of points, a goal and an assist. That is not bad when you consider that he is currently centering veteran forward Patrick Marleau who has really been a liability at times for the Maple Leafs this season and forward Connor Brown who no one would confuse for a goal scoring forward. 

That being said the goodwill that Nylander has built back up for himself throughout the later half of the season may have evaporated in Game 6 of the series after an absolutely brutal play from Nylander late in the game. In fact the play was so bad that the backlash against Nylander has been loud and vitriolic almost immediately with even fans outside the Leafs fan base criticizing and mocking Nylander for what has to be one of his worst moments of the season.

 The Leafs were down 3 - 1 in the second and desperately needed a goal when it looked like Nylander was going to be the recipient of a great scoring opportunity. The Bruins were effectively down a defender after one had lost his stick and a great centering pass appeared to be right on target, but Nylander simply stared at the puck and watched it go by, never even so much as attempting to make a play on the puck. I know it sounds crazy, but you have to see it to believe it.

[pub]