Leafs need to get more out of Nylander and Tavares
William Nylander is like buying furniture from Ikea, with the instructions somehow missing from the package.
You know you have all the parts — you see them in front of you — you just have no real idea how to put it all together.
Nylander was not the reason why the Maple Leafs blew a 5-1 lead Monday and lost in rather embarrassing fashion to the hapless but growing Ottawa Senators 6-5 in OT. But in the bigger picture, away from this messy defeat, away from the somewhat offence-first style of the Canadian Division, his lack of impact in games has become a serious issue with the Leafs.
And he’s not alone. Captain John Tavares, Nylander’s centre on the Leafs’ second line, the fifth highest-paid player in the National Hockey League, is struggling alongside him. Their line, even with the addition of Zach Hyman on Monday, seems rather lost.
Sheldon Keefe is nothing if not an equal opportunity coach. Play well and you get ice time. Don’t play well and it’s cut considerably.
Nylander is 152nd in the NHL in ice time for forwards. That tells you what Keefe thinks of his play.
Tavares is 90th among forwards in time on ice per game — hardly what GM Kyle Dubas envisioned when he and the club committed US$77 million to Tavares and months after he signed Nylander for just less than $7 million a year — more money today than anyone on the Boston big line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are paid.
And more than Nathan Mackinnon, Brayden Point, Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine. We could go on.
While Tavares is playing the least amount of time in his career, Nylander is playing just 16:43 a game. That’s six minutes less than Mitch Marner is playing. That’s five minutes less than Auston Matthews is playing.
Marner is first in the NHL in ice time for forwards. Matthews is third. Marner and Matthews are tied for second in even-strength points in the NHL, just one behind Connor Mcdavid. They are getting the ice time they deserve.
Tavares is 50th in evenstrength scoring. Nylander is 84th. The Leafs may well survive and finish first in the Canadian Division with one tremendous scoring line, a disappointing second line of overpaid and underproductive players, and a third line that’s mostly a waste of time. But that’s not the ticket to success in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Leafs are caught here with good money spent for production that doesn’t match the dollars in any way.
Tavares looks a step slow, which he has always seemed, but in the past his ability to create offence, to deal well in tight quarters, to utilize his shot and his natural hockey intelligence made him elite. Now through 16 games he is either in one of the worst slumps of his career or this is who he is at the age of 30. The Leafs had better hope it’s just a slump.
He gives the puck away far too often, far too softly, especially in the middle of the ice, and seems to frustrate easily.
In the past, he has been able to create some offence for himself, just not this season, with only one evenstrength goal and with his prized linemate Nylander playing out on the periphery, where he would score goals if the net was in the corner of the rink.
Nylander doesn’t spend much time in the places where Matthews and Marner score. He doesn’t shoot much and has an incredible wrist shot. He rarely, if ever, skates at full speed and has dazzling speed. He just dances in the corner, along the boards, behind the net, cycling, showing off his skills and leaving his coaches frustrated with his inability to turn talent into scoring.
The words used to describe him around the Leafs — and around the league — are: mercurial, erratic, alluring, disappointing, fascinating and curious.
The players on the team like him and respect his talents. But this group seems to like everybody.
There are two different problems, really, with the second line. Tavares has played poorly. Nylander has been far too indifferent. The second line scares no one.
The past two Stanley Cup winners had Yanni Gourde and Tyler Bozak as their third-line centres. The Leafs have Alex Kerfoot. For now. Not good enough now, not good enough at playoff time.
Weak second line. Weak third line. That’s no ticket for a parade.
There’s nothing easier to prepare for come playoff time than a one-line team. You focus on stopping Matthews and Marner. You set up your defence that way. Because if Tavares and Nylander prove to be no threat and Kerfoot remains in a place he doesn’t belong, the Leafs will be shut down, the way Columbus shut them down in August.
The solution: Tavares and Nylander have to play somewhere near the high-priced zone in which they are getting paid. Building a true contender is not about having the highest-priced players or even having the best collection of talent.
It’s about a team and how it comes together.
The Leafs, with their amazing record, are caught in a bind of their own creation. Without second line contribution, they can’t succeed in the playoffs.