Leafs' William Nylander Appears Likely to Debut A New Piece of Equipment
William Nylander took to the ice for Maple Leafs practice on Friday to test out a new piece of equipment after teammate nearly seriously injured.
Earlier in the week, during their matchup against the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs' forward Pontus Holmberg came inches away from suffering through a severe injury from an errant skate blade, which nearly caught him in the throat.
Senators' defenseman Tyler Kleven and Maple Leafs' enforcer Ryan Reaves engaged in some contact along the boards. As the former was bringing down the latter, his skate blade was coming up and it nailed Holmberg in and around his shoulder, mere inches from his exposed throat. Had he not had his right arm coming forward, it could have been a lot worse.
Of course, this brings us back to the unfortunate incident that took place last year in England, where Adam Johnson was struck by Matt Petgrave's skate blade, which resulted in his untimely and tragic death. It was an incident that shook the hockey world and brought about a lot of discussion about player safety.
As a result of the Johnson incident, the AHL mandated neck protection ahead of their 2024-25 season, while the NHL left it up to the players discretion. Some decided to wear neck guards immediately, some took a little bit of time before giving it a try, while others continue to play without.
Nylander looks to be giving it a try as evidenced by his new piece of equipment seen at today's practice. It adds up as well, considering he saw his fellow teammate and country-man come so close to sustaining a grave injury.
With how fast the game has become and how much stronger the players are nowadays, skate cuts are becoming more and more common. It's good to see some players taking the initiative in protecting themselves from what could be a serious and potentially career-ending injury.
