The Toronto Maple Leafs are having an interesting start to their season. After an offseason of change, it was always going to be the core pieces who would drive them forward. Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander, with Gavin McKenna joining the fray, are going to say whether the Maple Leafs are a playoff team or not this season.
So far, so good for the core. Matthews has five goals and 11 points as he’s ready to fully bounce back after a lost season. Nylander leads the team with 12 points. Kirill Marchenko has five points in six games after a massive trade right before the season started.
The Leafs are currently sitting in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Watching the standings in October is a fool’s errand. One win could push the Leafs to second place in the Atlantic Division, and one loss could put them behind five teams in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
And that’s why there’s no real reason to overreact to anything at this point. However, we should address Nylander’s defense.
Going into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Utah Mammoth, Nylander had been on the ice for eight goals against at even strength. He’s been on the ice for 33 high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
And at the time of this writing, he was on the ice for another 5v5 goal against the Utah Mammoth. He is watching way too many goals scored while he’s on the ice.
How should William Nylander address his defensive issues?
Nylander will always be a player who prioritizes offense. He will try to score goals and let that be his defense. However, that actually has to work. As of now, he’s been on the ice for as many 5v5 goals as his line has allowed. That can’t be the equation that gets the Leafs a playoff berth.
He could go after this with a “best defense is a good offense” approach, but that means he has to upgrade his zone exits and sustain time in the offensive zone. The high-danger chances being so lopsided (22 for and 33 against) is a problem. Nylander should be driving high-danger chances.
When looking at time spent in the defensive zone, Nylander is averaging around his career average. He is in the defensive zone 38.5% of his ice time. That’s not good but not bad. It’s average.
The Leafs will need a little more from him. He'll never be confused with Jordan Staal, but Nylander has to add more defensive prowess to his game. He’s 30 this season, and his pure talent will slowly start to fade. He needs to develop an all-around game to maximize his career, and this season, it’s especially important.
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