So if Nylander has more term and a better scoring ability, why does Toronto do this? Pearson is worse than Kerfoot and Horvat is worse than Willy. Zero reason for the Leafs to consider this

Leafs need size and toughness - This is the guy that could be the final piece... I like Willy and hes extremely good and talented, but he can be a ghost in the tough parts of the playoff- er... the first round

Leafs have their future 2C in Minten or Nylander.

They have Knies who can be that final piece, and Nylander has probably been the most consistent of the four in terms of playoff production.

Once you bring in Horvat and send out Nylander, that changes the dynamics of the top 6.

Willy is not a stanley cup winning C... and Knies isnt even in the league yet... remember when Robertson was going to step in and be a huge contributor... 3 years ago?

Hard to argue this, no? Like I said... awesome player... but if you are Tampa, and you see this... it would galvanize ME to want to step on the throat of this team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE03ynwGs7s

Tavares is still fine at C, you're looking ahead to the future. So you would hope that Knies is a contributor in the future at the least.

Except for the part where Nylander has been our most consistent forward in the playoffs and has 8 goals + 15 points in his last 14 playoff games. He has 9 hits in that stretch

They were already losing bad, so he might have gave up on that play. If you haven't noticed though Nylander always does that in the corners, he stick checks instead of putting his body on the line (he definitely wasn't going to do that in a game they were being blow out on). You might not like that he doesn't take first possession but he's actually good at reclaiming the puck through that tactic which is probably why he has more takeaways than giveaways. I can probably find you the compilation.

He's an elite stick checker as you can see from the vid below and that's what he does in the corners:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/william-nylander-proves-can-play-hard-puck/

In a 0-5 game he's not going to absorb a hit, perhaps he didn't want to put himself in a vulnerable or maybe that was his laziness just kicking in. Either way the 1st is a tactic and the 2nd one is something he has to work on and seems like he is:

He was gassed on this play, and still went for it and got a goal

Let's not pretend that behind the goal line isn't one of the most dangerous places on the ice.

Point a game for 2 straight playoffs. The Leafs lose this trade bad.

How many cups has Horvat won?

guys, I like Nylander... but they have 4 players who are their best players who all play the same way. They have not been out of the first round...

Jordan took a while to get there. Ovie and the Capitals did very little for 10 seasons before they won. Tampa took a while as well. It doesn't always happen right away. So everything you are saying is typical anti leaf bs