Leafs Coach Craig Berube Uses Creativity to Grant William Nylander's Early Season Request
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro - Imagn Images
William Nylander's previous request has been granted by Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube as he gets creative to address the ice time issue.
Earlier in the season, before the Toronto Maple Leafs were decimated by injury, William Nylander took it upon himself to request additional ice time during a conversation with his coach, Craig Berube.
Nylander was no longer part of the penalty killing unit to begin the season, so his ice-time took a bit of a hit, which essentially meant either more even-strength time or additional power play minutes to balance everything out.
When pressed about it by reporters, Berube responded back with a relatively democratic answer, insinuating that ice-time will be spread out evenly - at least for the time being.
"Well, Willy has played good hockey for us this year. I don't have a problem with his game. Ice time is ice time. I try to use my bench as best I can. I think everybody is important. I try to manage the bench that way. People have roles. I use them in those roles. Willy played a good game tonight. The line was really good for us again."
Well, it looks like after almost a full month, Berube has cracked and will be giving Nylander the additional minutes by thinking outside the box and using him on both power play units, akin to Alexander Ovechkin's usage with the Washington Capitals.
"He likes it. Got his ice time up. That's key. Get those minutes up."
During Friday's practice, Berube experimented with his power play units. The first unit was comprised of 5 forwards with the return of Auston Matthews and the second unit included 2 defensemen, Nikita Grebenkin, Nick Robertson and Alex Nylander but it was understood that he was a placeholder for his brother, who took reps only with the top unit.
On the season, Nylander has averaged 19:17 TOI, which is 38 seconds less than the 19:55 he averaged last year, which was a career-high. With additional power play time, expect more ice-time and points from the 28-year-old, who is second only to Mitch Marner on the team with 24 points.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 30 | 1922 ANSWERS Leafs Coach Craig Berube Uses Creativity to Grant William Nylander's Early Season Request Do you think it's wise for the Leafs to run William Nylander on both power play units? | ||
| No | 800 | 41.6 % |
| Yes | 1122 | 58.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
MUST READ
TRENDING NOW
