With just one goal and one assist in his last eight games, William Nylander hasn’t been happy with his "dead" level of production. But the star forward is confident he’ll get his game back.
With just one goal and one assist in his last eight games, William Nylander hasn’t been happy with his "dead" level of production. But the star forward is confident he’ll get his game back.
The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs ventured down to Canadian Tire Centre to take on the Ottawa Senators, William Nylander had been demoted to the third line.
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Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe explained that Nylander's game had not been at the level that was expected of his star forward.
Nylander got the message, saying he was "pissed off" about his level of play. And although he busted out for a goal and assists in a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers last week, that's about it when it comes to points over his last eight games from the Swede.
"It's dead," Nylander said as he interrupted Toronto Sun reporter Terry Koshan's question about his lack of production. "I just got to stay positive. I was getting a little irritated with myself but it’s all going to work out in the end. We’ve just got to work hard and that stuff will come."
Outside of the last stretch of games, it's been a banner year for Nylander. He set a new career high in goals in a season with 36 in 74 games this season. The 26-year-old had been leading the team in goals for most of the season until Auston Matthews recently began to light the lamp. He overtook Nylander with his 37th goal of the season in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
While Nylander's dip in play so late in a season could be cause for concern, there is a self-awareness that comes with the player who is about to wrap up his eighth NHL regular season.
There's also the fact that Nylander has generally been one of Toronto's best playoff performers over the last couple of years with eight goals and seven assists in 14 games.
"I think he’s got a much better understanding at this stage of his career with how it’s gone for him," Keefe said of Nylander. "His understanding of what he needs to do to succeed and how to reconnect with that."
Nylander returns to Ottawa on Saturday. It's the site of his last really poor game just two weeks ago when he had a 27 percent expected-goals share at 5-on-5 according to NaturalStatTrick.com, his third consecutive game in the 20s. Since that game, he's amassed an expected-goals share of 69 percent in his last five games.
He may not be getting the puck luck, but he's driving offense again. It explains why the player can smile when talking about his frustrations with scoring while not showing a lack of confidence.
"Maybe sometimes when the puck isn’t going in where it might affect the way you think in certain situations but I try not to let that bother me."
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