The Toronto Maple Leafs held their season opening media availability on Wednesday to kick off the start of their training camp. While they have had regular season success, the playoffs have been anything less than kind to them. It’s a new season and a fresh start for everyone.
There were plenty of talking points as the team gets set for another year where the focus is going to be on a Stanley Cup run. One of the key points was the fact that head coach Craig Berube is already having a different mindset for how his roster may be constructed. According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, Berube is going to put William Nylander at centre, making Max Domi an option for the wing.
Playing Nylander at centre has been a talking point for some time, but hasn’t gained any traction for a number of reasons. This time, it may be different as he’s poised to possibly get more of an opportunity to play the position as he has had experience in the past playing up the middle.
Nylander Has Chance to Thrive Up the Middle
Last season, then head coach Sheldon Keefe made the decision to try Nylander up the middle of the ice, saying that it wasn’t going to be a one-time thing. While the experiment was on again off again throughout the season, Nylander didn’t see any time at centre consistently. He spent the majority of the season back on the wing where he thrived offensively and bounced back and forth.
Many have come to know Nylander as a speedy and highly skilled winger that can do a lot of damage. The last three seasons have really shown that as he eclipsed the 40-goal mark twice, the 80-point mark three times and the 90-point mark once. He has really elevated his offensive production. However, he took a bigger step to round out his game, earning time on the penalty kill, averaging a minute of ice time per game and scored three short-handed goals (seventh overall in the league).
The defensive aspect was a big reason why many were reluctant to try Nylander at centre. His defensive game was lacking and that he couldn’t handle that kind of responsibility as his awareness wasn’t up to that standard. Last season was an indicator that he could be heading in that direction. Even in the faceoff circle, Nylander does have some numbers to suggest that he can be relied on to win draws. He has a career 50.4 faceoff percentage. Here’s a breakdown of that number every season.
| Season | Faceoffs Won | Faceoffs Loss | FO% |
| 2015-16 | 143 | 148 | 49.1 |
| 2016-17 | 49 | 73 | 40.2 |
| 2017-18 | 334 | 316 | 51.4 |
| 2018-19 | 203 | 165 | 55.2 |
| 2019-20 | 106 | 106 | 50 |
| 2020-21 | 13 | 10 | 56.5 |
| 2021-22 | 34 | 31 | 52.3 |
| 2022-23 | 25 | 34 | 42.4 |
| 2023-24 | 56 | 63 | 47.1 |
Nylander has never taken over 1,000 draws a season, something that most regular centres do. For most of his career, he has taken very few and the results varied. However, there was a stretch from 2017-18 to 2019-20, where he took a larger amount of draws and had favourable results. The best one coming where he had his lowest offensive productive season because of his contract negotiations. After that, he saw very few chances where it was a lower number of draws and chances to prove himself at centre.
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If given that chance to move back to being a centre, it’s definitely something that can elevate Nylander’s game than what it already is now.
Nylander Could be Even More Dangerous
When Nylander is on top of things, he is one of the best in the league. The combination of lack of defensive effort and consistency in the past from playing centre was something that many weren’t too pleased with. He’s a player that constantly drives a play and now he has the chance to bring his more developed style of play for more than just a minimum stretch of two games.
He has the speed, skill and awareness to carry the play with intent and confidence. Having more space to work with being in the middle of the ice could very well work to his advantage. Even with Berube behind him, there’s a chance where he can be consistent, given how Berube wants his players to be accountable. We’ve seen Keefe say that Nylander “wants and needs to be pushed”. Well, Berube is exactly that kind of coach that can push and get that kind of accountability from his players.
If Nylander can be consistent with his defensive game and intensity without the puck, that added element could very well make him more dangerous up the middle of the ice than he already is on the wing. We know how well and dangerous he can be offensively game and how quick he can be on a counter attack as he has shown to take control of big moments. He now has an opportunity to get more looks under Berube than he ever had with Keefe.
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With a new head coach in the fold, Berube is definitely wanting to give Nylander every opportunity to excel up the middle of the ice, rather than just a few shifts per game or a few games. You can’t expect to try something and then give up on it after a few tries and then rinse and repeat that cycle. You need to see that kind of transition consistently and if they feel that giving Nylander a longer look is beneficial to him and the rest of the team, then so be it.
