Toronto Maple Leafs: Nylander at Centre

Do the Toronto Maple Leafs want William Nylander at centre someday?

The Toronto Maple Leafs currently employ William Nylander to be their best winger.  I believe, however, that it is time to switch things up.

The team has depth on the wing. So much so that with the exception of the game Matthews didn’t play in,  they’ve either had Connor Brown or Mitch Marner playing on the fourth line in every game.  They also lack depth at centre, and so the switch seems obvious.

Not to mention that moving Bozak and replacing him with Nylander saves them a $4 million cap-hit which they can then apply elsewhere.  Other than breaking up their best line, it’s hard to see a drawback to finally making a move that has seemed obvious for months.

The Line Shuffle

As the news came out Wednesday that Matthews was going to be absent from the game against the Minnesota Wild, the lines took a noticeable shuffle.  This might work for a game or two (and not well, judging by the Wild game) but that is a lineup that is extremely weak down the middle.

Improvements

A year ago Mike Babcock said he sees Nylander as an eventual centre. Word was, he wanted him to get stronger, improve at defense, and to be better at faceoffs.

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Nylander is a 53% possession player this season.  His line is dominating in goal and scoring-chance differentials.  He’s fast, he doesn’t float and there is no reason to doubt his defense – when he’s on the ice, the team hardly has to play any.

Hopefully the Leafs aren’t spending millions of dollars on coaching and analytics only to make a decision like this based off of face-offs.  But with players who could seriously help the team getting 12 minutes per night on the fourth line, it’s a legitimate question: Why haven’t the Leafs moved Nylander to centre yet?

An Edge to be Gained

Putting Nylander on his own line would make the Leafs a better team. It’s simple math: you don’t put your two best players together when each of them improves whoever they play with.  By splitting them up, you elevate four other players. If you keep them together, you elevate one.

The depth at centre can’t be over estimated.  The Penguins have played in every Stanley Cup Final since 2008 where one of their centres wasn’t injured and they were able to ice 3 x #1 centres.  First with Crosby, Malkin and Stall, and then later replacing Staal with Nick Bonino.  The ability to crush teams with Matthews-Nylander-Kadri down the middle is something the Leafs shouldn’t be passing on.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs need to move Nylander to centre.  They already should have done so.

stats from naturalstattrick.com