Nylander's career night leads to some surprising comments from his coach
While Mitch Marner is garnering all the attention for his 22 game point streak, William Nylander is quietly putting together quite a streak of his own. Although he hasn't produced points in 22 straight games, since November first, he has had two point streaks of 5 and 6 games respectively and has put up 13 goals and 23 points since.
Tonight, as Marner extended his point streak, Nylander set a career high for points in a game with 5. His previous high was 3, which he had done 15 times prior. Nylander had two goals, three assists, one takeaway and while on the ice at 5-on-5, the Leafs outshot and outscored the Flames 18-9 and 2-0 - all in just under 22 minutes of ice time.
Following his career night, Sheldon Keefe had some high praise for Nylander saying, "He's producing at a higher clip, he has been consistent to start the season. I think Willie can and should be in that top elite tier of players in the league, and he's working his way there."
Keefe is right in saying that Nylander isn't there just yet, but he certainly could be if he continues to play the way he has to begin the season. It is by far the most complete game Nylander has played since entering the league, to the point that he is engaging physically on the forecheck and his defensive recovery without the puck has improved drastically. Since returning to Auston Matthews' wing, Nylander seems to have been playing with a burr in his saddle almost saying "I should have this spot and I'll show you why" and he has certainly proven his point thus far.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 11 | 329 ANSWERS Nylander's career night leads to some surprising comments from his coach Do you belive that William Nylander is an elite player? | ||
| Yes | 258 | 78.4 % |
| No | 21 | 6.4 % |
| Not yet, but he's close | 50 | 15.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
