Lost amid the angst felt by Toronto Maple Leafs fans in the wake of the departure of star winger Mitch Marner is one undeniable fact: the Maple Leafs still have superstar players. We all know what Toronto’s biggest star, center Auston Matthews, can do. When he’s healthy, Matthews is the most dangerous scorer in the game.
However, not close behind him in the Leafs’ pecking order is another scoring star, right winger William Nylander. The 29-year-old Swede is coming off a career year in goals scored, with 45 goals in 82 games last season. But look beyond that particular statistic, and you’ll see that Nylander is also one heck of a playmaker.
Indeed, only two seasons ago, Nylander had a personal-best 58 assists in 82 games. That total fell to 39 assists last year, but the challenge this coming season for Nylander is to maintain his scoring output while getting back to the 50-assist range. That will help Leafs fans forget about Marner’s elite playmaking skills.
Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube has a couple of ways he can utilize Nylander next season. He can play Nylander on the top line with Matthews and budding star Matthew Knies, or he can put him on the second line with center John Tavares and newcomer Matias Maccelli. Either way, Nylander will live up to expectations if he can be creative, slippery and speedy. And if his creativity leads to major production from his linemates, Nylander will be doing everything you want to see from an $11.5-million per-season player.
Forgive us if we seem too optimistic, but what we’ve seen from Nylander in his pro career is that he’s built for pressure. He’s been the most consistent star for the Leafs in the past four or five playoffs, putting up an impressive six goals and 15 points in 13 games this past post-season. And Nylander’s devil-may-care attitude makes him tailor-made for the pressure-cooker lifestyle that comes with playing in Toronto.
But now that Marner is out of the picture, Nylander may find himself more in the spotlight than ever before. He and Matthews are this Leafs team’s best players, and that has to be reflected in their statistics. But Buds fans will be turning to Nylander to do more than he’s done before. And we think he can do it.
If you’ve been in a dressing room with Nylander – either as a teammate, a coach or a media member – you can’t help but note that he’s a happy guy on the whole. In many ways, he’s been the polar opposite of Marner, who looked tortured and miserable every time he was forced to step in front of cameras and microphones in Toronto.
Nylander’s good nature may be tested in this post-Marner era, but equally possible is that Nylander continues to show he’s fully capable of handling the duties of being a major star for the Leafs. As a second-generation NHLer, Nylander was raised in the spotlight, and that’s why Toronto fans should feel good about Nylander continuing to thrive in Blue and White.
If they’re to progress as a team, the Maple Leafs need their re-jigged core to perform well in this new environment. And while Nylander isn’t a perfect player, he is someone Toronto fans can rely on to remain a Grade-A performer. He’s been doing it for the Leafs for the past decade, and he’s almost assuredly going to keep doing it throughout the rest of his career.
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