Even if Nylander works out at center I'd probably still rather have Lindholm as he plays a 2 way game and will come in at a more reasonable cost.

Ha, this is the first thing I thought too when I heard about the Leafs playing him at center in training camp. I'll still be surprised if Lindholm or Nylander are available as UFAs this offseason, but we will see.

Not that PpG or CF% are everything, but let's compare Nylander and Lindholm and see who you'd want to give $9m+ to for 7-8 years.


[table]
[thead][tr][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th]Cors[/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th]Fenw[/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th]PDO [/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th][/th][th]Zone[/th][th][/th][/tr][/thead]
[tr][td]Season[/td][td]Age[/td][td]Team[/td][td]Lg[/td][td]GP[/td][td]TOI[/td][td]CF[/td][td]CA[/td][td]CF%[/td][td]CF% rel[/td][td]FF[/td][td]FA[/td][td]FF%[/td][td]FF% rel[/td][td]oiGF[/td][td]oiSH%[/td][td]oiGA[/td][td]oiSV%[/td][td]PDO[/td][td]oZS%[/td][td]dZS%[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2016-17[/td][td]20[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]81[/td][td]1289.6[/td][td]1533[/td][td]1096[/td][td]58.3[/td][td]11.1[/td][td]1167[/td][td]846[/td][td]58.0[/td][td]11.3[/td][td]74[/td][td]9.1[/td][td]47[/td][td]92.3[/td][td]101.4[/td][td]64.9[/td][td]35.1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2017-18[/td][td]21[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]82[/td][td]1368.5[/td][td]1556[/td][td]1246[/td][td]55.5[/td][td]7.5[/td][td]1125[/td][td]982[/td][td]53.4[/td][td]6.1[/td][td]94[/td][td]11.7[/td][td]56[/td][td]92.5[/td][td]104.2[/td][td]55.7[/td][td]44.3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2018-19[/td][td]22[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]54[/td][td]837.9[/td][td]1072[/td][td]741[/td][td]59.1[/td][td]7.9[/td][td]786[/td][td]572[/td][td]57.9[/td][td]8.0[/td][td]43[/td][td]8.0[/td][td]38[/td][td]90.7[/td][td]98.7[/td][td]62.6[/td][td]37.4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2019-20[/td][td]23[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]68[/td][td]1238.2[/td][td]1448[/td][td]995[/td][td]59.3[/td][td]10.9[/td][td]1097[/td][td]802[/td][td]57.8[/td][td]9.8[/td][td]86[/td][td]10.8[/td][td]60[/td][td]89.5[/td][td]100.3[/td][td]67.3[/td][td]32.7[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2020-21[/td][td]24[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]51[/td][td]846.6[/td][td]912[/td][td]601[/td][td]60.3[/td][td]11.7[/td][td]701[/td][td]463[/td][td]60.2[/td][td]10.8[/td][td]55[/td][td]11.1[/td][td]29[/td][td]91.2[/td][td]102.3[/td][td]67.1[/td][td]32.9[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2021-22[/td][td]25[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]81[/td][td]1480.1[/td][td]1813[/td][td]1188[/td][td]60.4[/td][td]9.5[/td][td]1414[/td][td]918[/td][td]60.6[/td][td]10.3[/td][td]121[/td][td]12.0[/td][td]82[/td][td]88.4[/td][td]100.4[/td][td]69.4[/td][td]30.6[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2022-23[/td][td]26[/td][td]TOR[/td][td]NHL[/td][td]82[/td][td]1520.5[/td][td]1886[/td][td]1272[/td][td]59.7[/td][td]13.4[/td][td]1462[/td][td]943[/td][td]60.8[/td][td]13.8[/td][td]129[/td][td]12.3[/td][td]65[/td][td]90.2[/td][td]102.5[/td][td]73.1[/td][td]26.9[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Career[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]NHL[/td][td]521[/td][td]8940.6[/td][td]10644[/td][td]7400[/td][td]59.0[/td][td]10.4[/td][td]8049[/td][td]5737[/td][td]58.4[/td][td]10.2[/td][td]617[/td][td]10.8[/td][td]388[/td][td]90.7[/td][td]101.6[/td][td]66.1[/td][td]33.9[/td][/tr]
[/table]





Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 9/21/2023.

Nylander is a far better option in just about every stat. Especially for the price that Lindholm is going to be.

If Willy shows to be a competent C the Leafs will just pay him & use him at 2C as JT’s contract would have only 1 year left

Um....so what you said just plainly wasn't true. The bottom line is that in the little that Nylander is better on the offensive side, Lindholm more than makes up for on the defensive side and Lindholm will come in at a significantly lower price tag.

I'm not convinced Ullmark is worth a 1st right now