It used to drive Mike Babcock just a little batty that William Nylander had this spectacular wrist shot — “this gift,” the coach called it — and he didn’t use it often enough.
It used to drive Sheldon Keefe just a little batty that Nylander would one night be the best player in hockey and the next night play as though he didn’t have any interest in the game at all.
Now it’s Craig Berube’s turn to try and understand and take advantage of this remarkable talent — one of the greatest Maple Leaf players in history and maybe one of the most confounding.
This is an older, sounder and more mature Nylander than ever before. He has grown into his unusual ways. He utilizes his wrist shot now, realizing what a weapon it is, almost whenever he can. He plays hard, most of the time, in his offensive-minded way, rarely being the irresponsible defender that coach Keefe would have to scrap with on occasion.
Now, Nylander wants more ice time. And he has said that for publication. Pretty much every player in the NHL wants more ice time. But few have his skill to change a game, to turn nothing into something, to explode the way Nylander can explode.
Historically, Nylander has been a full-time job of sorts for the men who have coached him in the NHL. Just trying to figure out who he is and how he operates best. In the first half of his career, he was a 60-point scorer. Now in the second half, to date, he’s gone from 80 points to 87 to 98 the past three years, to whatever he winds up with this year.
Those numbers make him elite, as does his salary. But he’s not getting elite numbers in terms of time on ice. He’s got eight goals — that’s two more than Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined, this early season. He’s playing almost two minutes fewer than he played last season, three or four minutes fewer than Marner and Matthews currently are.
This version of Nylander, the best he has ever been, occasional flaws and all, deserves star treatment with his ice time. This is a talent, motivated in his singular ways, that Berube needs to take full advantage of.
THIS AND THAT
Matthews is all but certain to centre the first line for Team USA at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off tournament, probably playing alongside the Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady. I could see coach Mike Sullivan having a second line with Jack Eichel at centre and snipers Kyle Connor and Tage Thompson on the wings. That’s a powerful first two lines. And that’s without including obvious choices such as Jack Hughes, Jake Guentzel, Clayton Keller, Chris Kreider, Cole Caufield and J.T. Miller. Matthews, off to a slow start, ranks fifth in scoring among American centres, behind Eichel, Hughes, Casey Mittelstadt and Thompson … Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, Jaccob Slavin and Zach Werenski are sure-thing picks for Team USA on defence. After that, you add one or two from a list that includes Jake Sanderson, John Carlson, Neal Pionk or Seth Jones … And with Thatcher Demko not playing and Jeremy Swayman struggling, it’s looking like Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger will be the two goaltenders. On paper, this is the best collection of American hockey players ever put on ice … Don’t know how much longer Sullivan will be the coach of the failing Pittsburgh Penguins but I do know that if he his let go, he will not be out of work for long. There’s a short list of teams already interested in what happens with Sullivan … Are the Maple Leafs better with Berube coaching? They have better goaltending. They have a better defence corps. But after 11 games, they have 13 points. The past two years they had 12 points. The year before that 13. So it’s really same old, same old in the standings, just not necessarily in structure, style or daily messaging … Last year after nine games, the Boston Bruins were 8-0-1 and a +15 in goal differential. This season, the about-to-implode Bruins are 4-5-1 and one of the league’s worst minus-13 in goal differential … Two biggest surprises of the first month of NHL play: How impressive the Calgary Flames have performed (with that roster) and how badly the Nashville Predators have played. Have to think it won’t be long before GM Barry Trotz is back coaching the Preds … The more NFL football I watch, the less I understand about what is a catch and what isn’t and what exactly is pass interference.
HEAR AND THERE
I’ve watched every World Series since 1967. I can’t recall a team imploding in a clinching game as badly as the New York Yankees imploded at home in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Superstar Aaron Judge dropped an easy fly ball. Star pitcher Gerrit Cole failed to cover first base on an infield grounder. There was a balk, a catcher’s inference call, three errors in total for the American League champions. The Dodgers impressively won the World Series in five games, so why does it feel like Yankees lost it all by themselves? … Sports is a copy-cat business. The Dodgers won without much starting pitching, with a lot of power, with a deep lineup, a great bullpen and terrific managing from Dave Roberts. Which brings us to the Blue Jays, who have deep starting pitching, next to no bullpen, next to no power, a lineup that isn’t deep at all, and a manager we’re not sure about. In other words, they are running in the opposite direction of the World Series champions … What a year for Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter and team president, Stan Kasten. They began the year by starting the PWHL, a very successful startup where Walters owns all of the franchises and the championship trophy is named for him. They end the year winning the Series. Kasten all but set up the women’s hockey league. Can’t do more than that in a calendar year … Juan Soto apparently wants a 13-year contract to sign where he ends up as a free agent. Which is nice, for him. Anyone who awards him a 13-year contract, starting price would be more than $600 million, will end up regretting the arrangement … ESPN Bet lists the Blue Jays as the sixth favourite to sign Soto, at 18-1. The Yankees and the Mets are the favourites, followed by the Dodgers (8-1), Giants (15-1) and Nationals (15-1). The Mets are just over 2-1 and the Yankees are better than even money to sign the free agent outfielder … Former Blue Jays delight Marcus Stroman was on the Yankees roster for the entire post-season and they didn’t use him for a single inning. Sometimes good things happen to good people. Or sometimes the opposite.
SCENE AND HEARD
Murray’s assertion that Vince Carter influenced his love of basketball. Murray was two years old when Carter won the NBA slam-dunk competition. He was seven when Carter was traded to the Nets. At one point did he influence young Murray? RJ Barrett, three years younger than Murray, says the same thing. Barrett was born the year Carter won the slam-dunk; was less than five when Carter was traded. I think too much is made of all that Carter did for Canadian basketball … One more Carter thing: He won one playoff series as a Raptor, a best of five. His playoff record was 6-9 in Toronto. Has anyone ever had their jersey retired and celebrated after winning just six playoff games for a franchise? Anybody? … Timothy Liljegren was impossible to define, which is why the Maple Leafs eventually gave up on him. He wasn’t a defensive defenceman. He wasn’t an offensive defenceman. He wasn’t a gambler. He wasn’t a great stay-at-home defenceman. He wasn’t particularly physical. So GM Brad Treliving tried to trade him and the minute one team was interested, he moved him for next to nothing, which is what you get for a seventh or eighth defenceman. Decent asset management here by Treliving … Heading into Saturday’s playoff game against Ottawa, Argos coach Ryan Dinwiddie had an amazing .676 winning percentage with the club. The two greatest coaches in CFL history, Wally Buono and Don Matthews, came in just over .630. Mike O’Shea, the measuring stick of today, is at .608. The legend, Vince Lombardi, by the way had a .738 winning percentage in the NFL … Is Kyle Connor the least talked-about great player in the NHL? … Andrei Vasilevskiy, who I used to call the best goalie in the world, is letting in a lot of goals this season that he would otherwise have stopped … Wise gamblers are going to cash in significantly with bets on whomever wins the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award. Finalist Bo Levi Mitchell was a 100-1 shot to win the award and West finalist Brady Oliveira came in at 60-1 … If you don’t like Freddie Freeman, check your pulse.
AND ANOTHER THING
Two of the best things Kyle Dubas did when running the Leafs: One, drafting Matthew Knies; Two, not trading him when there were numerous teams inquiring about his services … With Connor McDavid off to a slow start and now out for a couple of weeks with an ankle injury, the scoring title in the NHL is completely up for grabs. I do hate it when great players get injured … I think it might be a four-way race for scoring champion: Kirill Kaprizov of Minnesota currently leads with 21 points, not far behind are defending Hart Trophy champion Nathan MacKinnon and defending scoring champion Nikita Kucherov. Also in the mix, defenceman Cale Makar and perennial big scorer Artemi Panarin of the Rangers …I’ve watched the first few games of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the MVP candidate seems to be changing his game slightly in the early season. His scoring his down, his playmaking is up and the Oklahoma Thunder is undefeated …The early media rookie of the year: Matt Bonner on radio. Boy, you learn things you didn’t know listening to him break down a basketball game … How is it Monday Night Hockey on Prime, a brand new venture, looks better physically, than hockey does on Canadian networks? … What did the Raptors want to focus on when training camp began? Defence. And more defence. So heading into Saturday night, the Raps had given up the most points in the NBA — 125.2 per game … What to like about the 1-5 Raps: The early-season scoring of sophomore Gradey Dick, with 30 points scored back-to-back and the explosive scoring of Barrett, in his second Toronto season … You couldn’t help but like outgoing Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie. He was so optimistic, so enthusiastic and so full of unusual and original ideas. And some might say, so full of others things as well. He leaves the job — actually he’s getting pushed out — after seven seasons and like many before him, he found it next to impossible to move the league forward and push the league to grow. Ambrosie will leave behind a series of problems that have been problems for too many years. And no one has been able to solve them …. The early book on J.J. Reddick as the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. If he can get Anthony Davis to play this kind of inspired basketball all year long, he will be an MVP candidate and Reddick will be a candidate for coach of the year … Scouts are raving about Wilfrid Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma, who some see as a future CFL pivot …Happy birthday to Luke Schenn (35), Rick Ley (76), Paul Quantrill (56), Dwight Evans (73), Phil Simms (69), Ken Rosewall (90), Jordan Love (26), Pekka Rinne (42), and Ryan Tepera (37) … And hey, whatever became of Margene Adkins?
[email protected]
twitter.com/simmonssteve