Right now, one of the Toronto Maple Leafs forwards is playing very well and our focus in today’s discussion. That member of the Leafs is none other than William Nylander. Nylander plays a responsible game and has been heating up offensively lately. He has been picking it up with some key injuries upfront. Nylander’s play can only mean good things for the team.
Just Where Would the Leafs Be Without William Nylander?
Ordinarily, being without your captain would be a recipe for disaster. However, for the Toronto Maple Leafs, with superstar centre Auston Matthews out of the lineup, another star has shone in William Nylander. Nylander, along with other stars in the Leafs top-six forward group have stepped up in Papi’s absence. We are here to focus primarily on William Nylander how his game has improved, and what it could mean going forward upon the captain’s return from injury.
Matthews hasn’t suited up for the Leafs since early November when the club was 6-5-2. Since that time, the team is on a bit of a heater outscoring its opponents 11 to 2 in the three games. Nylander is currently tied for second in the league in goals at 11. Furthermore, he currently finds himself on a four-game point streak, with three goals and three assists. When Nylander gets hot, you may recall how hot he can get. Last season he opened the year on an incredible 17-game point streak. He has certainly been picking it up in Matthew’s absence, but just what about Nylander’s game causes this to happen?
Nylander Is Very Smooth and Dangerous With the Puck
As a player, Nylander skates hard without the puck. Then with the puck, whether it is picking up the puck in his own zone or attacking in the offensive zone, Nylander always makes controlled plays with confidence. Furthermore, he doesn’t seem to have a physically imposing figure. However, he is very solid on the puck, almost unassumingly. These types of abilities allow him to draw in the defence and hit the open man, such as John Tavares.
The recent success of the Leafs power play and Nylander’s influence are terrific examples of what we are talking about. Nylander has been taking the puck to high-danger scoring areas. He is very good at taking what the defence gives him. Then, he makes incredibly smooth, yet powerful dekes to leave defenders and goaltenders, alike, in their wake.
The line of Max Pacioretty, Tavares, and Nylander has been quite effective for the Leafs. They have been on ice 68 minutes together as a line, and have an outstanding xGoals% of 66.2. However, with Pacioretty’s own current injury to deal with, the Leafs and head coach Craig Berube will have to do some line shuffling. Look for a player with some experience playing with Nylander to possibly fill in, Bobby McMann.
Like all these players we have mentioned, they have been taking advantage of the extra opportunity with Matthews’ absence from the lineup. An example for Nylander has been his increased likelihood of shooting recently. Last game he had seven shots on goal. He doesn’t always shoot a ton, but recent evidence shows games of two or three as the minimum. That is opposed to early in the season when he might have zero or one.
Without Matthews, the three remaining members of the Core 4 have been hot in those three games. Combined, Mitch Marner, along with Nylander and Tavares have seven goals and seven assists. What this means, is plenty more than right now. This could be great news for the Leafs throughout the rest of the 2024-25 season. To that point, they have managed to get their power play on track. Just from those past three games again, it is an amazing seven of 13.
Along with getting the power play on track, it will get their depth scoring producing as well. It will allow coach Berube to play around with line combinations to find some that he might not have ordinarily even considered. Therefore, with Matthews’ injury, and Nylander stepping up, it has created positives for the Leafs forward group as a whole.
Main Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro – USA TODAY Sports
