Traik-eotomy
Things are not right with Nylander’s game — and the Leafs need to do something about it ... Kucherov proves he’s in an elite class of scorers ... Karlsson quieting the doubters
What do the Maple Leafs do with
William Nylander?
It’s been a month since he returned to the line-up following a contractual stalemate that lasted way too long. In 14 games, he has one goal and two assists. He’s a minus-2.
Honestly, he’s played worse than his stat line might suggest.
Something is not right with his game and it goes beyond a lack of production.
Nylander, who missed nearly two months and all of training camp, seems out of sync and a step too slow. He’s not forechecking or backchecking hard enough and he’s starting to cost Toronto games.
In a 4-0 loss to the Nashville Predators on Monday, Nylander got caught offside on an Auston Matthews goal that was called back. Shortly after, he was either late or lazy in attempting to block a P.K. Subban shot, whereby he accidentally tipped the puck into his own net.
It’s logical to believe that he’ll work out of this funk and that the points will flow. But how long do the Leafs, who are 7-5-2 with Nylander in the line-up, have to wait? And what does the team do until then?
As you can tell from head coach
Mike Babcock’s recent comments, patience is wearing thin on a player who has as many goals and points as Toronto’s Trevor Moore, who was returned to the minors on Tuesday, despite having played eight fewer games, far fewer minutes and with a cap hit of almost $10 million less.
That’s not to say that the two players should switch spots. Or that Nylander’s six-year, $45-million contract is already proving to be a costly mistake.
Toronto’s error wasn’t in making Nylander the fourth-highest paid forward this year. It was treating him like he’s already top-five forward.
He’s not. At least, not yet. Nylander has flaws in his game and some growing up to do. He’s not a finished product. For all his untapped potential, he still hasn’t scored more than 22 goals in a season
or learned how to play a complete, two-way game in the way that Matthews and Mitch Marner and already have.
We sometimes forget that Nylander is only 22 years old and had been in and out of Babcock’s doghouse over the past two seasons. He’s yet to have his breakout year. He scored just 20 goals and 61
points on a line with Matthews last season and had been mostly invisible in a first-round loss to the Boston Bruins. He isn’t as polished as Matthews or Marner. He’s basically Nazem Kadri before Kadri learned how to become a 30-goal scorer and a trusted two-way forward.
So what do the Leafs do? Well, stop babying him for one.
With Zach Hyman returning to the line-up from injury, there is an opportunity to not only bump Nylander off the top line for Thursday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, but to have him watch a game from the stands. It won’t quiet the criticism coming from outside the dressing room, but it could serve as a much-needed wake-up
call that Nylander, despite what his bi-weekly cheque might suggest, is not yet the player he’s being paid to be.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
Nikita Kucherov, who has a league-best 71 points in 43 points, became the fasted to the 70-point mark since Jaromir Jagr did it in 38