NYLANDER SHOWS EFFECTS OF LONG LAYOFF
Just a matter of time before forward adds another weapon to Leafs’ artillery
Auston Matthews was talking about the bottomless depth of the Toronto Maple Leafs, how the return of William Nylander had pushed Kasperi Kapanen down in the lineup, but how it really wasn’t a demotion for Kapanen because it meant he would be playing on the third line with Nazem Kadri, a 30-goal scorer.
It was then that Matthews paused.
“I don’t know who’s on the left side,” he said. “But anywhere you go in this lineup you’re going to be playing with some pretty good players. I think that goes without being said.”
Indeed, whether it was Connor Brown or Andreas Johnsson on the left side, Matthews’ point was well made. The Leafs are incredibly stacked. Heck, they were stacked even without Nylander — or Matthews, for that matter.
Heading into Thursday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, Mitch Marner was ranked in the top five in scoring, while John Tavares was among the top 20 and defenceman Morgan Rielly was tied for 22nd.
Matthews, who entered Thursday’s game against the Red Wings with 15 goals in 14 games, would be right up there had he not missed half the schedule with a shoulder injury. The same goes for Nylander, who after sitting out 28 games because of a contract dispute signed a sixyear deal last week that carries a US$6.9-million cap hit.
That’s David Pastrnak-type money. And the expectation is he will start producing like the Boston sniper once the rust of sitting out in Sweden for the last two months wears off.
In a 5-4 overtime loss against the Red Wings on Thursday, however, he didn’t look like Pastrnak or even himself. He looked like a guy who hadn’t played since April.
Which was fair. No one really expected Nylander to step in and score a hat trick after missing training camp and the first quarter of the season. This was a “get your feet wet” game.
Nylander was cheered as he stepped on the ice for the game’s second shift. It was the only thing he did that was worthy of applause.
Rusty and out of sync, Nylander lost an edge and took a spill into the side boards while chasing down a defender in the first period and spent most of the night a half step ahead of or behind the play. By the third period, head coach Mike Babcock had apparently seen enough and moved Nylander away from Matthews and onto the third line, before eventually parking him on the bench while the team erased a three-goal lead.
Nylander’s final stat line read: no shots in 12 minutes and 48 seconds.
It won’t take long for those numbers to improve. After all, Nylander is 22 years old, not 32. Once he’s up to speed, watch out.
“He is a big part of this team,” Matthews said. “He is dynamic. You add another player like that to our roster and our depth, it gives us another weapon out there and it’s definitely a good thing for us.”
Not that the Leafs needed more weapons.
Without Nylander — and at times without Matthews — Toronto was ranked second in goals per game and had the thirdbest power play. Adding Nylander to a lineup that has four players producing at a 90-point pace was sort of like Rambo carrying around a rocket launcher, a couple of AK-47s and a belt lined with grenades — while also tucking a pocket-sized pistol into his boot for good measure.
Consider that Kapanen had 10 goals in the first 28 games of the season and scored his 11th Thursday. Had he been playing for the Coyotes, Ducks, Flyers, Kings or Islanders, he would be leading each of those teams in goals.
Also consider that to make room for Nylander, the Leafs traded fourth-line forward Josh Leivo to the Vancouver Canucks, where he promptly was elevated to the top line and scored a goal in his first game.
That’s the definition of depth. It’s also why the hype around the Leafs is real.
Two months into the season, the only team better than Toronto is Tampa Bay. Now that the Leafs’ roster is complete, expect that to change, especially since general manager Kyle Dubas has about $5.8 million to spend on whatever else the team might need at the trade deadline.
In other words, we haven’t seen the best just yet. Not even close.
Nylander is an upgrade over Kapanen, so he will make Matthews better. And he will improve the already deadly power play. Everything improves.
“I think (Nylander’s return) has given everybody a lift,” said Matthews. “I think everybody is excited just to put the whole thing in the past and move on. He is here and he is here for good.”
When asked if adding Nylander to a team that had already been firing on all cylinders sends a message to the rest of the league, Tavares shook his head.
“I don’t think we try to worry about sending messages ... There’s a long way to go,” he said. “It’s just about continuing to kind of give yourself the best chance to have success.”