#lots of ways the fandomy side of the leafs talk has made me care abt him less like i was genuinely positive on him a year ago

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I know it's prob pretty frustrating with the mitch narratives ppl have been spewing recently but the amazon doc is pretty harmless imo it reads to me as centering willys fire and desire to win a lot more than any negative thing about Mitch/Auston and ppl can say what they want (😭as they do) but it's nice to finally have willy shed the narrative of "not caring" and being "soft" so it's kinda weird to me how often you downplay his journey and his role for the team. not coming after you, it's just that he's also a leaf superstar that frankly got the shit end of the stick for almost his whole tenure here - more than Mitch!and he's finally come out the other side (and I wish neither of them did! but :// Toronto)

i don't personally find willy that compelling as a personality and i think his fans have to make up a lot of stuff just to try to shoehorn him into any interesting dynamics and narratives on the team (if one more person says he has daddy issues.. lolol). he can be his giggly harmless self overall, but i'm tired of hearing about how his range is in the same sentence with mitch and auston bc it's not from a hockey perspective, lol. you can love him best and evaluate him however you want, but i think he was just given a contract that is a slight overpayment and i'm sitting here having to hear abt how mitch marner is being overpaid on his current contract now knowing he's gonna be asking for prob over a million more than willy rightfully so like give me a break. i get that the discourse doesn't get to everyone, so good for you i guess, but seeing ppl gas him up to put mitch down naturally sours stuff for me, lol, and i'm tired of him being talked abt as some clutch savior when really.. last playoffs was inadvertently a microcosm of his play in general. "clutch" maybe but inconsistent (by no fault of his own in the playoffs w the migraines obv) which results in it being pointless in the end. i think some people have higher ceilings than others and all of them are doing what they can do most nights. judging effort level isn't my job, so it is what it is. i don't think he's soft/uncaring/lazy, but i find some things about his play and the way ppl constantly gas it up frustrating for sure.

i'm not even saying i think willy's part of the doc is filled with any storylines making any crazy statements against my guys or whatever. from what i've seen, it's just pretty surface fluff we already know about him. the stuff on the bench is nothing and didn't change my opinion about him, lol, but this is my blog and i'm venting my frustration about the way ppl were treating mitch bc of that moment as some character reflection. i haven't been a maple leaf fan since all these guys were drafted... but in the last few years, willy def has not been treated worse than mitch, so lol. sorry i can't retroactively care about the insults hurled at younger nylander (or critique of his game some of which was earned) lol, but i do think there are flaws to willy's game that are more annoying than the guys i chose as faves. i'm not some arbiter of maple leafs history, and i'm allowed to genuinely believe he's not as important as other people. you'll live with your opinions and version too. i'm sure i'm not changing your mind and i'm sorry it's not kumbaya over here atm. it will go back to normal after mitch extends and the heat's off probably, lol, idk.