Nylander and the Maple Leafs will decide on Friday whether he gets into the lineup against Philadelphia.
After missing two of the Toronto Maple Leafs' last three games with a lower-body injury, William Nylander is feeling better. However, his status for Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers is still in question.
"Yeah, I feel better for sure," Nylander said after Friday's practice inside the Flyers' practice facility. "But we'll see tomorrow."
The 29-year-old skated alongside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on Friday afternoon following a scheduled team day off. Nylander has played two games beside Matthews after beginning the season on John Tavares' wing.
How did he look during Friday's practice?
"Normal," noted Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube.
"But we're going to have to see tomorrow. It's going to be a decision that's made tomorrow. It's on how he feels, and if he's going to be able to contribute and help us. He wants to play, but at the same time, like, he doesn't want to put himself in a bad situation either for himself or the team."
Nylander missed Wednesday's game, a 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, but was in the lineup the night before in a 4-3 win against the Calgary Flames. The forward picked up an assist on Knies' second-period goal during that game.
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He confirmed following practice on Friday that he picked up the lower-body injury following a Jason Zucker cross-check late in the game against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 24.
Before this injury forced him out of games, Nylander hadn't missed a regular-season match since the 2021-22 season. He's been durable for a large chunk of his career, playing 80 or more games in six of his first 10 seasons in the league.
"Yeah, it sucks [being out], but I mean, there's nothing really I can do about it," Nylander added. "It's just going to need to take some time. I don't know, maybe I play tomorrow, maybe I don't, so we'll see."
It's always interesting to watch how a team and player navigate a day-to-day injury. Some might believe it's best to manage it while dressing for games, while others think it's good to give the player a rest to get fully healthy.
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How does Berube look at it?
"I don't know. I think that's a good question," the head coach said.
"I mean, we had the back-to-backs on it, so he played one of them, and he was effective, we got a win. And then he felt, the next day, not ready to go. So it's like there is a balance. I hear what you're saying, but at the same time, he's an important guy, obviously, and if he says he's ready to play and he wants to play, I want him to go in."
That sounds more like he'll be in the Maple Leafs lineup on Saturday against the Flyers than not. If Nylander does play, he'll give Toronto a much-needed boost after a difficult game against the Blue Jackets earlier this week.
"I think that we have been playing good at times in the game, like really good. But then we just give up some unnecessary chances to the other team, and they capitalize on it," Nylander said of Toronto's play as of late.
"So I think we've got to tighten up that part of our game to not give them many free chances, which I think is what they're capitalizing on. And if we just take that away and keep establishing our game every shift, I think we'll be good."
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