Nylander picks up right where he left off

Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe gave a timely capsule Wednesday of William Nylander and how the team’s rookie scoring sensation has bounced back from a devastating head injury he suffered at Christmas.

“I thought his game, especially his third game back, there were some elite moments,” Keefe said at Marlies practice. “Those moments were special to watch. He seemed to take charge of the game at key times . . . and defensively, he was engaged and he knows that’s where he has to be good, especially if he’s going to play centre in the NHL.”

Nylander said three games is a small body of work to fully gauge how he feels after that open-ice hit to the head he took at the world junior championship while playing with his native Sweden.

From all accounts, and because of the work he put in during his monthlong absence from the Marlies roster, he was able to return in full stride.

“I think it actually went quickly for me to get back into the swing of things, so now I have to be consistent,” said Nylander.

Remarkably, Nylander has rebounded from 11th to seventh in AHL scoring over the short span of his first three games back.

The league’s top scorer at the time of the injury, Nylander has managed a goal and five assists since his return to the AHL’s Marlies after missing 16 games.

That points spree comes not only after more than a month recovering from concussion-like symptoms, but from a separate bout of appendicitis that surfaced while he was healing from the head trauma.

“It feels good so far,” Nylander said of his overall health.

“I’m trying to improve my overall game now. I’m trying to put all that (injuries) behind me.”