MAPLELEAFSDAILY | NHL TEAM | TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

One Leafs reporter gives his honest opinion of the William Nylander center experiment so far

PUBLICATION

Mike Armenti
October 4, 2023 (12:28)

SHARE THIS STORY

When the Leafs revealed that they were going to give William Nylander a run at center to test the waters during training camp, the move was met with a ton of skepticism over whether or not the 27-year-old would be able to make the transition after 500-odd games as a winger at the NHL level.

Last week, Max Domi spoke about what a pleasure it was to play on a line with Nylander and just how skilled he is. However, during Monday's pre-season game against the Canadiens, the trio of Domi-Nylander-Robertson was absolutely handled by the Habs, with the shots 8-2 in favour of the Habs with that line on the ice.

The Athletic's Jonas Siegel released an article on Wednesday, pondering what the game plan for Nylander is moving forward. He cautioned that 2 pre-season games is probably far too small of a sample size to warrant pulling the plug on the experiment and questioned whether Keefe wouldn't simply prefer to exercise some patience and leave Willy there to figure it out over the first 30 days of the season.

"Now, it was just Nylander's second game of the preseason. He hasn't had a ton of reps. It would be unreasonable to think he would just show up and shine at centre after playing on the wing for all but a handful of his more than 500 NHL games. Keefe is going to have to give this time. Let Nylander settle into the rhythms and responsibilities of playing the position on the regular for the first time since he was outside the NHL." - Siegel on the plan for Nylander moving forward

Must read on MapleLeafsDaily

Easton Cowan appears to have made a decision on where he'll play next season

Video: Fans cross the line with a frustrated Connor McDavid outside beer store

Siegel also tossed around the possibility of using the defensively solid Calle Jarnkrok on the third line alongside Nylander and Domi to see if utilizing a better defensive forward there might help. Jarnkrok has missed most of training camp due to a neck injury, though he has returned to practice this week.

All in all, Siegel views this trial as sort of a 50/50 scenario at the moment. On one hand, yes, some of the offensive bursts have looked good, but on the other hand, being hemmed in in your own zone is not something a head coach likes to see.

Previously on MapleLeafsDaily

Leafs D corps taking a lot of unfair criticism before the team has even played a game

Hall-of-Famer reveals how close he was to becoming a Leaf

An updated look at the Leafs' remaining training camp roster after most recent cuts

POLL
4 OCTOBRE \| 265 ANSWERS One Leafs reporter gives his honest opinion of the William Nylander center experiment so far Does William Nylander stick at center this year or is he moved back to the wing?
He's going back to the wing. Everyone knows it	206	77.7 %
He'll stick at center for the year	16	6 %
He'll remain at center for at least half the year	43	16.2 %
List of polls