The Toronto Maple Leafs are 4-0-2 with William Nylander out of the line-up, sparking debate at whether or not they need the All-Star winger moving forward.
There's no question that William Nylander is one of the most talent forwards in hockey, but that doesn't necessarily drive winning. He has 58 playoff points in 68 career games, which is similar to Auston Matthews' stat-line, but the captain's defensive ability makes up for his lack of offense at times, which is something you can't say about Nylander.
The former No. 8 overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft is always inching towards the opponent's blue-line looking for a breakaway and is never going to be a player that wills a team to win. We've seen his intensity pick up, as shown in the Amazon documentary, but you can make your team a heck of a lot better if you used his $11.5M contract correctly.
For years, the Leafs have been criticized for their huge dollars spent on four players and even though they let Mitch Marner walk, they still have four players signed to big deals. Matthews and Nylander make the brunt of it, but Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly both have monster deals. With roughly $42M tied up in those players, the only player that you're going to get a big package in return for is Nylander, and you're not trading Knies or Matthews.
The 29-year-old possesses all of the skills you want in a top-line winger and can complement a roster that is tough to play against, but just needs a game-breaker. The Leafs are not a scary team to play against, but with Nylander out of the line-up, they're playing the right way. Craig Berube has always wanted this team to play with more urgency, physicality and be defensively responsible, which is what we've seen over the past six games.
Leafs should trade Nylander after this winning streak
They've won three games where they've allowed one or less goals and have played more as a team. It might be sustainable but the line of Matias Maccelli-John Tavares-Matthew Knies as stepped up as a solid second-line without Nylander, and Auston Matthews has shined with Bobby McMann and Max Domi as his wingers.
As for the rest of the line-up, the youngsters of Easton Cowan and Nick Robertson beside Nic Roy has worked, while Scott Laughton, Calle Jarnkrok and Steven Lorentz have been a solid fourth-line. Would you love to add Nylander's skill to this line-up? Sure, but it really throws a wrench into how well they've been gelling and there is more than enough offense in that top-six right now to win.
If that third-line with Cowan and Robertson can continue to score in a timely fashion, you don't necessarily need another $11.5M forward to generate offense, but instead could use all of that cash on the blue-line. Imagine you were able to grab two $5.5M defenseman with Nylander's contract? Someone like the St. Louis Blues could be willing to move a defenseman such as Colton Parayko or Justin Faulk if it meant acquiring Nylander.
I know that they've been winning lately, but the Sabres have a few young defenseman in Owen Power, Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin that could be appetizing in a trade for Nylander too. Most of the NHL would line up for Nylander's services, so Toronto is in a position of power from that standpoint.
It's probably never going to happen because he holds the cards with a no-move clause, but a Nylander trade would shock the Leafs dressing room and show that they are bought into this system.