The Leafs provided no further update on their star player but it doesn't look good.

BOSTON — As he did when speaking about William Nylander's status on Friday, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe did not give any indication on whether or not the Swedish forward would be in the lineup when his club visits the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Nylander did not take part in the team's well-attended optional skate at TD Garden on Saturday. That alone isn't an indication of anything given the player doesn't usually participate in the optional. But if he was close to returning, trying things out for a skate would be expected.

Nick Robertson, who would be the top candidate to come out of the lineup if Nylander was able to play, took part in the full skate and confirmed that he's set to participate in the playoffs for the first time since making his NHL debut during the 2020 COVID bubble.

"First kind of real playoff game, I'm pretty excited," Robertson said.

Fellow Swedish teammate Timothy Liljegren was asked about how Nylander was holding up.

"It's hard to replace Willy, obviously," Liljegren said. "We've got guys stepping up when guys go down. It’ll be no different this time. It's tough for him, but hopefully he won't miss too much."

Nylander was one of two players who played in all 82 regular season games this season. According to TSN's Chris Johnston, the issue Nylander is dealing with is something that popped up on the Thursday morning after the regular season concluded.

Certainly based on everything, it sounds as though Nylander will not play and the lines they Leafs practiced with on Friday will be the group that is expected to take on the Bruins for Game 1.

Nylander scored 40 goals and had 58 assists for a career-high 98 points this season. The 27-year-old had a hot start to the 2023-24 which also helped him lock up a whopping eight-year, $92 million extension.

Based on the lines as well as Robertson and Liljegren's comments, all signs point to Nylander sitting out of Game 1. Unless the Leafs are continuing the gamesmanship and the player shows up at warmup. But the playoffs are officially here and with it comes the game of inference.

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