William Nylander unhappy with his ice time under Craig Berube

Photo credit: Maple Leafs on X

William Nylander appears to be unhappy with the decreased ice time he has received under new Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube.

The Maple Leafs were always expected to see some changes in how things were run in Toronto following the departure of Sheldon Keefe and the hiring of Craig Berube this past summer.

Berube has a very clear method to his madness, prioritizing work ethic and playing the right way — straight line hockey, with not much appetite for the East-West style that often results in neutral zone giveaways, which lead to counter attacks for the opposition.

One of the players in Toronto who has not necessarily benefitted from the change in style has been William Nylander, who has seen his ice time dip to the lowest it has been in 4 seasons, with the Stockholm native drawing only 18 minutes of ice time per game, down nearly 2 minutes from last season.

Now, just a few weeks after the plug was pulled on his trial run at center, Nylander has approached Berube about his ice time, offering up his services on the penalty kill in hopes of earning a bit more ice time per game.

 

 

Nylander’s production thus far has been strong. With a team-leading 6 goals and 4 assists to give him 10 points through 10 games, Nylander is just one of two Maple Leafs to have broken the double-digit barrier thus far, with Mitch Marner (1G, 10A) being the other.

Berube is very team-first in his approach to the game, which could be one of the reasons why he doesn’t worry too much about ice time. Individual accolades and concerns don’t seem to resonate with Berube, as the team’s performance is the primary focus. Still, it will be interesting to see how Berube and Nylander navigate this situation, with the skilled winger requesting a larger role with the team.

Perhaps a few shifts on the penalty kill will be enough to satiate Nylander and get him up over the 19-minute threshold and this all goes away. Or, the other potential outcome here is that Berube keeps Nylander where he is now, close to the 18-minute mark, creating some potential conflict down the road if the ice time issue is not addressed. Time will tell.