Dave Litman
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube continues his juggling act with the forward lines ahead of the team’s next game on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks.
The defense has been sound lately, allowing only five regulation goals in their past five games (four of them wins, one a shootout loss). But on the offensive side of the puck, the Leafs been held to two goals or less in seven of their last 11.
To that end, Berube is making a surprising change to the lineup, demoting a slumping William Nylander to the third line. Yes, he is the team’s leading scorer with 32 points in 25 games. But Willy has also gone four straight contests without a point. So Nylander will join grinders Dakota Joshua and Nic Roy on the third line.
As Bryan Hayes noted on TSN’s Overdrive on Wednesday afternoon, “There’s nothing sexy about playing with Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua.”
Hayes added, “That is a direct message (to Nylander) from Craig Berube: You better start skating, working and checking.” Former NHLer Jeff O’Neill added, “He’s trying to give him a jolt. You’re trying to get his attention and wake him up…
“All my coaches, when they were p*ssed off, they’d say, ‘Go to the third line for a while. See how you like that.”
Nylander reacts to his demotion to the third line
So what does the ever-laid-back Nylander think of all this? In his usual carefree attitude, he doesn’t seem to be too upset.
“I think it’s great, we needed to try something new.”
That’s classic Willy. But he did also admit that he needs to be more aggressive. “I feel like there are chances where I should be shooting the puck. I have to be more hungry to attack the net.” Nylander has just five shots on goal in those last four scoreless games. This, from a player who has averaged about 3.5 shots per game over the last several seasons.
In the meantime, Nick Robertson will come down from the press box where he’s spent the past couple of games as a healthy scratch, to take Nylander’s spot on the second line with Easton Cowan and John Tavares.
