William Nylander demoted, speaks frankly when asked about his play of late

Earlier this season, the Leafs attempted to spread out the talent across three lines, with Nylander sliding down to the third line, not as a warning or a punishment, but as an experiment. This time around, there's nothing experimental about the 25-year-old's demotion to the third line. It's strictly performance based.

Nylander has found a way to maintain his point production over the last 10 games, posting 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points over that span, but the defensive lapses in his game and lack of effort when backchecking have been nothing short of frustrating to watch.

Obviously, given the demotion, it's clear that the coaching staff is not happy. As for how Nylander himself feels about it, here's what he had to say regarding being on the ice for so many goals against recently:

That's a pretty blunt statement from Nylander and hopefully this is a bit of a wakeup call for the Calgary-born Swede. At points early on this season, Nylander was a force in all three zones and enjoyed a lot of success because of it. Lately, however, he has reverted to the same old habits of picking and choosing when to turn on the jets. If he backchecked as hard as he skates for breakaway opportunities, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Full stop.

Nylander holds his fate in his own hands. Nobody can move his legs but him. He's the one who shies away from playing in the tougher areas at times and curls back instead of pursuing the puck into the corner. If he would simply commit to playing to his potential every night instead of picking and choosing when to turn it on, it would certainly solve a lot of the team's issues from a two-way play standpoint. If he remains on the third line for any length of time, he has only himself to blame.