William Nylander Meets with Craig Berube to Address New Toronto Maple Leafs Concern

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Chris Gerics
October 31, 2024 (1:30 PM)

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The Maple Leafs penalty kill has been decent, not great, and forward William Nylander wants to help, talking with Craig Berube about a minutes increase.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a big turnaround against the Winnipeg Jets, although their penalty kill wasn't great, allowing the Jets to come back into the game briefly. It's been a sore spot all year, and coupled with taking some careless penalties; it's cost them.

Sitting 14th in the NHL with an 80.5% on the penalty kill, those aren't numbers indicative of a successful team, especially in the playoffs. Star forward William Nylander knows this, and wants to do more to help his team when they're down a man:

Nylander isn't a terrible option on the penalty kill, although this season, he's been more prone to giveaways and defensive lapses. Last season, Nylander found himself on the PK frequently and performed well; he won over 52% of his faceoffs while shorthanded, scored three short-handed goals, and had 13 takeaways to only four giveaways.

Nylander isn't shy about wanting to get back into that role, not only to help Toronto but to get his rhythm back:

"PKing is fun. It's good to get in the game that way. I mean, if there's a lot of penalties & stuff like that. It will keep you going. Of course I miss PKing."

His head coach also wants to see more from Nylander, but only if the forward earns the ice time:

«I have no problem with it We talk about it. He killed penalties last year. He's not on the penalty kill now, so that's some ice time he's missing. I try to get him out there, if deserved, as much as I can.»

He's capable of playing a defensive role when he isn't solely focused on trying to make offensive chances, and if Berube can focus his attention away from scoring (which comes naturally) and trust Nylander to play more defensively sound; it could pay huge dividends for Toronto.

If Toronto wants to try Nylander on the penalty kill, he could certainly be a better option than Pontus Holmberg or David Kampf, and his engine alongside Steven Lorentz's will give Toronto a solid penalty-killing duo. Craig Berube's no stranger to tinkering around with his lineup, so given Toronto's PK could use an improvement, why not try him for a game or two and see if it helps?

William Nylander's search for more minutes begins with more penalty-killing time, and if he truly wants that extra ice time then he needs to prove to his head coach that he belongs in a crucial spot in the game,