FTB: 88 reasons to love William Nylander

There was big news yesterday for Maple Leafs fans. William Nylander announced he is changing his number back to what he had playing in the SHL.

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William Nylander is changing his jersey number to one 88 times luckier

Not only is the number 88 back on the Leafs, he’s arranged to pay for you to have the number on your jersey changed.

You’re paying??? Thank God! #cashmoney #LeafsForever https://t.co/gpo7Lfnn4b pic.twitter.com/RuA0P1pD2j

— Brendan Shanahan (@brendanshanahan) July 16, 2019

However, I recommend that you don’t do that. Having an obscure oddity of a jersey is good for fan cred sometime 30 years from now when William Michael Junior Jr. is drafted by the Leafs.

Beyond that, there’s so many reasons to love Willy!

He makes great assists.

He scores great goals, including his first ever NHL goal against the Sens!

He has great cellys.

And he’s a good kid.

This is also great as s distraction from the never-ending story of Mitchell Marner’s RFA contract. Don’t sue me if he signs today.

Top 25 Under 25
We’re about to kick off our Maple Leafs Top 25 Under 25 series. It is a famously accurate and precise ranking we do each summer of every single player who is under the age of 25 in the Leafs system.

I have never once been wrong thanks to the detailed and in-depth analysis performed for me by the kittens at the PPP ranch.

Arvind likes to do it all that on his own and guess what he came up with: Martin Marincin ranked at number 5 smh.

Maple Leafs T25U25: Our History of Horrifying Mistakes - Pension Plan Puppets
Before we start talking about the new prospects let’s look back at how very, very wrong we all were so many times in the past.

Other News

After watching the success of the Blues and their goal song Gloria by Laura Branigan last season the Devils have decided to adopt a different Laura Branigan song for their team next season. The Devils mascot was practicing for it on the weekend.

My son’s birthday ended with a bang! We are so ready for this season thanks NJ Devil for coming to the birthday party. pic.twitter.com/cBtndy6UEC

— Lawrence Chiu (@aznpimpmaster) July 14, 2019

The Avalanche made a move.

The financials of the Andre Burakovsky deal are one-year for $3.25 million, per a source. #Avs now have around $19.9 million in remaining cap space to re-sign J.T. Compher, Vladislav Kamenev and Mikko Rantanen.

— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) July 15, 2019

Vegas’ offseason will be a failure if they don’t sign Gusev - Knights On Ice
Why has Nikita Gusev still not signed with the Golden Knights?

The firing of Hextall and the retirement of Holmgren are connected - Broad Street Hockey
[SPECIES: Gritty has been running the Flyers for years. YEARS!]

Sens sign Carcone to two-year, two-way contract - Silver Seven
[SPECIES: I hope you know you won't ever find a decent pasta casserole in Ottawa.]

March 24, 1956, Ted Lindsay's fearlessness was on full display when he took to the ice after an anonymous threat to him and Gordie Howe were phoned in to a local newspaper. Dubbed the "sharpshooter" incident, Ted shares that story – and his best Marcel Bonin impression. #RIP7 pic.twitter.com/oFoD5Enpjy

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) July 15, 2019

Want More Goal Scoring? Don’t let shorthanded teams get away with Icing - On the Forecheck
A revolutionary idea, yet so simple in practice.