The two faces of William Nylander
And so we return to what seems like an eternal either/or in Leafland.
Choose your side: Is William Nylander an underachieving floater who will ultimately need to be traded if the Maple Leafs are ever going to maximize their potential in the Matthews-Marner era? Or is Nylander a valuable talent with an underrated work ethic who is simply “misunderstood,” to use the word employed by teammate Zach Hyman after Nylander scored both Leafs goals in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames?
If you’ve paid attention to the discourse in Toronto since Nylander arrived as the eighth pick of the 2014 entry draft, you know the conversation around No. 88 tends to veer between those two extremes, with very little heed paid to the middle ground.
And you’ll understand one of the big reasons why. This is a town that has always been transparent about its playertype preferences. Which is why some of the most venerated players in recent memory include the likes of Wendel Clark and Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi, lunch-bucket types who performed well on teams that went deep in the playoffs. And why Doug Gilmour — the tireless, Selke Trophy-worthy defensive hound who also happened to score a singleseason franchise-record 127 points at his height — was a universally admired force.
As for players who don’t exhibit that kind of heart-on-asleeve gutsiness, let’s just say it takes a Matthews-level knack for piling up stats to earn remotely similar levels of admiration from fans. And Nylander, even with Wednesday’s two-goal outburst factored in, simply hasn’t produced at an appropriate level 21 games into this sprint of a 56-game season.
Toronto’s second line, anchored by John Tavares and Nylander, remains an underwhelming force. Nylander has three goals at five-on-five, the same number as Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton. Tavares has two five-on-five markers. While Nylander has been the subject of many a polarizing argument, there’s
nothing divisive about such numbers: They’re simply not good enough.
“I know I’ve underperformed, and I know I can do better,” Nylander acknowledged Wednesday. “I’ve got levels to get to where I want to be.”
In other words, there’s really no misunderstanding. The fan base has been hemming and hawing about Nylander not doing enough. Even Nylander would tend to agree. And so would Sheldon Keefe, who has been coaching Nylander going back to 2015 with the Toronto Marlies.
“Why is (Nylander) misunderstood? I think Willy has to own some of that. He’s got to find more consistency in his game,” Keefe said. “He and I
have talked a lot about those kind of things. He’s got to be engaged and good without the puck. Part of it, perhaps, is being misunderstood, but part of it is just he’s still got to grow as a player.”
That’s not to diminish Nylander’s reputation for being a genuine lover of practice, a guy who spends copious time honing his skills on the ice and chiseling his body in the weight room.
“You don’t do the things that he does away from the rink and when people don’t watch if you don’t care,” Hyman said. “(You don’t work so hard) if you don’t love the game, you don’t want to get better and you want to help your team win … And he’s the guy who’s out there, usually
the first guy out on the ice doing skill work, working on his game. And he works his butt off in the summertime. He’s one of the strongest guys on our team, under-ratedly. But he gets misunderstood a lot of the time.”
Given that Hyman is acknowledged as probably the hardest worker on the team, it says something that he’ll vouch for Nylander’s diligence. But it also says something that Hyman feels he must. Nylander might show how much he cares behind the scenes. Clearly he doesn’t show it enough when he’s standing in the spotlight.
That’s not to diminish Nylander’s contribution on Wednesday. According to the NHL’s stats department, Nylander became just the fourth player in Toronto franchise history to score a tying goal in the final two minutes of regulation and an overtime winner in the same game. The most recent was Benoit Hogue in 1995.
Still, for all the homage paid to the Swede’s two crunchtime deliverances — and to Keefe’s point about being engaged without the puck — Nylander got a free pass for mailing in an especially feeble attempt at a stick lift that allowed Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane to make it 1-0 Flames late in the third period. If Elias Lindholm didn’t rifle a puck off the post of the Toronto net with Michael Hutchinson on the bench for an extra attacker shortly thereafter, Nylander’s miscue would have been a defining moment of a Maple Leafs loss.
“People get on him a lot, obviously,” Hyman said. “I think that people don’t realize how much he cares and how much he wants to win, so to see him be the hero tonight and get the last two goals there, it’s just great. I’m just really happy for him.”
Maybe it comes down to the way you look at work ethic. There are those who believe tireless hustle is non-negotiable, that it ought to be the bare-minimum expectation of a pro athlete. And there’s something to that.
There are others who’ll tell you this: Hustle isn’t a given; hustle is a talent. If everyone had it within their capabilities to bring, say, Hyman’s ferocity to a forecheck, Hyman wouldn’t have a job. Those who aren’t born with this essential sporting talent need to do their best to develop it.
Which is precisely what Keefe was saying Wednesday. Nylander needs to be more “consistent” and more “engaged.” Nylander needs to be better without the puck. There’s no misunderstanding the coach’s message: Heroic practice habits are nice and Wednesday’s two goals were wonderful, but Nylander needs to work harder at working harder when everyone’s watching.