William Nylander demoted ahead of tonight's game against the Coyotes
In Tuesday nights game, the Seattle Kraken's 3rd goal was a direct cause of a William Nylander turnover on the powerplay and it appears that Nylander's game Tuesday night may have put him in Sheldon Keefe's doghouse.
The stern bench boss has not been a fan of Nylander's play of late, and with the playoffs coming up, he's looking for the slick-skating winger to fine tune his game on both the offensively and defensively. When asked what Nylander will have to do to get back in his good graces, here's what Keefe had to say.
The Leafs second line of Nick Robertson, John Tavares, and William Nylander has looked good in the three games that they've been together but tonight, Ondrej Kase will get a look next to Tavares and Robertson in what should be a very tenacious second line.
Meanwhile, Nylander has been demoted to the Leafs' 3rd line, suiting up with Alexander Kerfoot and Wayne Simmonds. It's an interesting line to say the least. Kerfoot and Nylander have shown to have great chemistry and they've shown it even when they aren't playing with John Tavares. Meanwhile having Wayne Simmonds adds a physical element to the line, giving the Leafs the best of both worlds.
Kase gets another look in the top-6 that was cut short when he got hurt a couple weeks ago. He's excelled their so far this season and perhaps it means the team can balance out their offence in the playoffs.
Now's the time for the Leafs to try things, we saw the offence dry up because of Tavares' injury in the playoffs. Trying now lines allows for the Leafs to develop more chemistry between their players and see what works if they need to shuffle their lines in a playoff series.
There's a noteworthy absence in the lineup as well, as veteran forward Jason Spezza looks likely to miss his second straight game. Hopefully just load management.
| POLL | ||
10 MARS | 229 ANSWERS William Nylander demoted ahead of tonight's game against the Coyotes Will Nylander work his way back up to the second line tonight? | ||
| Yes | 132 | 57.6 % |
| No | 59 | 25.8 % |
| He'll be used as a major trade chip | 38 | 16.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
