After Friday's practice, Nylander said he had ideas of why the season went wrong, but wasn't willing to share more.
There might not be a more unique relationship within the Toronto Maple Leafs than head coach Craig Berube and William Nylander.
In the almost two seasons that Berube has been behind Toronto's bench, we've seen every side of their relationship. Go back to last season, and not even a month into Berube's tenure, Nylander was in constant communication with the coach about more ice time.
He had 19:55 per game in the season prior under Sheldon Keefe, but in his first 10 games with Berube behind the bench, Nylander's ice time dropped almost two minutes, to 18:01.
"I mean, that is a little bit what I've been trying to talk to Chief about," said Nylander at the time. "I think it helps my game a lot to do what I want to be able to do out there, so yeah, hopefully something to figure out."
Nylander finished last season averaging 19:31 of ice time, the second-most of his career, behind the season prior with Keefe as head coach. In Nylander's second season with Berube on the bench, his average ice time has dipped to 19:07.
It's not just ice time that the two chat about.
Berube has said countless times during his tenure that the two have an open line of communication. Those discussions could range from ice time to, on other occasions, Nylander wanting to try a certain play out.
"I have a lot of conversations with him, which I enjoy," Berube said back in Jan. 2025. "I want him to open up to me; what we can do better. He has a lot of great ideas. I may not agree with them all, but there's something I might want to hear."
"I'm not trying to figure him out," Berube continued. "I'm trying to hear him out more than anything."
Fast forward to the present: the Maple Leafs' season has just about fallen off a cliff, with them sitting in 10th last in the NHL. Nylander, who dealt with a groin injury during the mid-year mark, leads Toronto with 25 goals and 67 points in 56 games.
(In an 82-game season, that puts him on pace to tie his career high of 98 points, set during 2023-24.)
During Friday's practice, ahead of their ninth game left on the season, Berube and Nylander were once again in constant communication. Before the first drill, the two were discussing something — what that was is unknown.
But after Nylander came down and beat Joseph Woll in the drill, he skated towards Berube, smiling, with his hand to his ear. Nylander stood near his coach for a brief moment, still with his hand up to his ear, before the two chatted again.
They spoke to each other about five times during the entire 43-minute session.
"We're having a little fun out there," Berube said after Friday's practice. "It's good."
Added Nylander, "It was just fun and games. It was fun. He was yelling at guys to shoot it, so then I shot it, and I asked if he saw that I shot it."
Despite Nylander's individual success this season, Toronto is set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. It'll be the first time since Nylander joined the organization that they won't play meaningful hockey in the spring.
How does Berube think Nylander is handling everything?
"He handles everything well," the head coach said. "Obviously, it's not a great situation for anybody, and he's not used to this situation for sure. But at the same time, he understands that we've still got games to play, we have to do a good job with competing and playing the right way."
"Yeah, it has been really tough," added Nylander, "but now it’s been a little while where you’ve been able to digest it a little bit more and think about it so, I mean, it’s still an awful feeling."
Usually, when a season derails, as this one did, there are clear signs that point to why it occurred. It could be injuries, some difficult play, and the team not really meshing together as a group.
You could point to all of those reasons as to why the Maple Leafs struggled this year.
But where does Nylander believe it went wrong?
"I mean, I have my thoughts about maybe some stuff," he said, "but I mean that’s something I’m going to keep to myself."
Maybe we hear more from Nylander when the season comes to a close, maybe we don't. Nevertheless, it's a massive season lost for the Maple Leafs, with Nylander, Auston Matthews, and the rest of the core continuing to age.