Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander will play at centre against the Boston Bruins
The Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock announced that William Nylander will play at centre in the absence of Auston Matthews, who sustained a shoulder injury against the New York Islanders.
Babcock further told the media he has not decided yet if Nylander will play more games at centre if Matthews remains sidelined. I’ll answer that question for Babcock, Nylander is your only option to play top minutes at centre. Not Marleau and definitely not Bozak, Nylander. William Nylander is the man for the job.
Babcock confirms Nylander will play centre tomorrow "and if things go good Willie's just going to stay there"
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 23, 2018
So, no home-road rotation planned with Marleau
Mike says he hasn't decide whether Leivo or Martin will play tomorrow
Time to reason with logic
Under Mike Babcock, William Nylander has played mainly as a winger. Even though William Nylander is in potential the second-best centre on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, Mike Babcock played Nylander on Matthews wing. Which has been great, honestly, they share an amazing chemistry and are undoubtedly one of the most dynamic duos in the league.
But here’s an opinion for you; Auston Matthews will make anyone better. Even if Matthews would be to play with say, Kasperi Kapanen, it will still be the top line.
Sadly, that is not the main reason for Mike Babcock to keep Nylander on the wing, even though that is the only good reason I can come up with quickly. I’ve written about it before, moving Nylander to centre would bring many benefits for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
More from Editor In Leaf
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson Healthy and Ready
- Ryan Reaves Will Have Zero Impact on Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Playing Max Domi In Top-Six a HUGE Mistake
- Top 10 Scandals in the History of the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Results from the Traverse City Prospects Tournament
The reason I think why Mike Babcock doesn’t play Nylander at centre, seems to be simply because Mike Babcock doesn’t trust him there (yet). We all know Babcock, he talks a lot about accountability, even though he has a point there. Mike Babcock still trusts Tyler Bozak for over 15 minutes per game on the ice and trusts Roman Polak. For god sake, if Babcock can trust these guys, he should have no problem trusting Nylander.
William Nylander
William Nylander has improved allot on his defensive play and is the type of player that will rise to the challenge when presented to him. He is good in the faceoff circle (with still room for improvement), is an elite puck mover and playmaker. If given the chance, he will surely prove that he is able to become this teams second-line centre.
People who keep referring to the games he played as a centre in the 2015 – 2016 season, are simply ignorant. He was smaller back than and less experienced and the team tanked the league for crying out loud. The chances he was given this season, can hardly be called chances. So before judging if he is capable of playing as a centre, let him prove it by letting him play there.
No, this is the moment we’ve waited for. William Nylander will play at centre and with some luck, Babcock will put Kasperi Kapanen on his right side. At the first practice without Matthews, Nylander had Connor Brown on his right, but with all due respect, even Matthews looked lost with Hyman and Brown on his wing.
Next: Trade Rumours and Speculation
Nylander with Kapanen is a force to be reckoned with, they were so years ago on the Toronto Marlies and can be that on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brown was doing fine on the Bozak line and should remain there.
Thanks for reading!