NHL’s best players under age 25 for 2017: Playmaker William Nylander ranks No. 16

Note: This is SB Nation NHL’s top 25 players under age 25 series! We’ll be covering each player from No. 25 to No. 1 over the next few weeks leading up to training camp time. See the complete list and information on how the rankings were compiled.

It certainly speaks volumes about the Toronto Maple Leafs that two of their heavyweight prospects come one right after another in our rankings. Last season wasn’t William Nylander’s first in the NHL, unlike our No. 17 pick in Mitch Marner, but in a year when much of Toronto broke out, the 21-year-old found his stride.

Nylander was the Maple Leafs’ eighth-overall pick in the 2014 draft, but he didn’t appear in the NHL until the latter half of the 2015-16 season. Right from the start, Nylander impressed. Though he had a limited run with the Maple Leafs his first season, he put up 13 points in 21 games to help propel him into a strong training camp.

In his sophomore season, Nylander really came alive. Last year, he posted 61 points in 81 games, with 22 goals that put him fourth overall on the team in tallies. Nine of Nylander’s 22 goals came on the power play, which was second on the team behind Nazem Kadri’s 12. Nylander spent the majority of his time on Auston Matthews’ right wing, and though Nylander has experience at the center position, the move was extremely beneficial.

Matthews no doubt makes players better just by his mere presence on the ice, but Nylander was a great complement to the Maple Leafs’ No. 1 center. At even strength, the two made each other better in both goals and possession statistics when they were occupying time on the same line, according to Natural Stat Trick. Nylander’s possession stats were at his best when playing on the top line with Matthews and Zach Hyman, and his even strength 53.2 overall CF% was third-best by a Maple Leaf forward last year.

However, Nylander wasn’t as productive when separated from Matthews. His time with Leo Komarov and Nazem Kadri at even strength overall netted a goal differential of negative-four, according to datarink, in 300 minutes played. Though he didn’t mesh well with Komarov and Kadri, in the majority of Nylander’s line combinations the young forward made a positive difference on his teammates.

That being said, it’s not a bad thing that Nylander performs best when paired with Matthews. The chemistry was palpable between the two forwards from Matthews’ four-goal NHL debut and has since grown into a formidable force of a first line.

Nylander spent nearly four seasons in Sweden before officially making his way to play with the Toronto Marlies in 2015. The forward jumped between two of Sweden’s best junior hockey leagues in the SuperElit and Allsvenskan, where he scored 50 points in 38 games and 33 points in 43 games respectively.

The Maple Leafs signed Nylander to his entry-level deal in 2014, and the forward made his AHL debut with the Marlies in January of 2015. There, Nylander put up 32 points in 37 games and helped the Marlies reach the playoffs despite a sub-par season before the forward joined the club. Prior to his stint with the Marlies, Nylander played in the 2015 World Juniors and finished fifth overall in scoring with 10 points, the highest for a non-Team Canada player that year.

In his final season with the Marlies, Nylander put up 45 points in 38 games and made the AHL All-Star Game for his outstanding minor league performance. That same year, Nylander made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs. In his sophomore year, Nylander earned two NHL Rookie of the Month awards for October and March, and overall this netted him a sixth-place Calder Trophy finish.

The addition of Patrick Marleau via free agency this offseason adds another dimension to the Maple Leafs’ top line next season. It still remains to be seen where Marleau will fit, but a first line of Marleau, Matthews, and Nylander is quite appealing.

Given Nylander’s chemistry with Matthews, it’s safe to say the pair will still be playing together in the future unless things unravel unexpectedly. What is likely to occur next season is a boost in playing time for Nylander. Last season, the forward played an average of 16 minutes per night, a number that was bumped to 18 minutes in the postseason. With the trickle-down effect of adding Marleau to the lineup, the Maple Leafs could very well boost time on ice for the top three lines considering the talent makeup they possess.

If healthy and utilized properly, Nylander could very well peak 70 points this season as the team’s premiere playmaker alongside Matthews. With his entry-level deal expiring after this season, the Maple Leafs will want to get every point out of Nylander before the team has to start to shed salary and talent to get all their young players signed.

It feels right to have both Nylander and Marner occupy almost the middle of our rankings side by side. Nylander likely got the nod above Marner in many of our voters’ minds this year because of his additional time in the NHL, and his slightly better possession statistics.

For Nylander to continue to climb, another year in the Maple Leafs’ top five in overall scoring would no doubt help. Last season, the 21-year-old struggled occasionally in finding the back of the net, and more consistency would likely give greater cause to rank Nylander more favorably.

Even with those gaps, Nylander put up third-best numbers for a rookie in the NHL last season. With more confidence having a full season and some playoff time under his belt, Nylander could be poised for an even bigger year in the upcoming season.

Highest rank: No. 4
Lowest rank: Not ranked