HockeyFeed

Maple Leafs send tough message to William Nylander

Tough love for the Swedish forward.

HockeyFeed

HockeyFeed

The Toronto Maple Leafs earned themselves a call out from head coach Sheldon Keefe, despite their victory over the Original 6 and Atlantic Division rival Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Bell Centre. 

Keefe wasn't pleased with how his top players performed, especially in the absence of Mitch Marner, who hasn't played since March 7 due to a lower body injury. During his team's most recent practice session, forward William Nylander found himself demoted to the 2nd line, while Calle Jarnork slotted into the top spot with Tyler Bertuzzi and Auston Matthews. 

Bertuzzi-Matthews-Jarnkrok
Domi-Tavares-Nylander
Knies-Kampf-McMann
Holmberg-Dewar-Reaves
Extra: Gregor, Robertson
Absent: Marner (lower-body)

Brodie-McCabe
Rielly-Lyubushkin
Edmondson-Liljegren
Extras: Benoit, Giordano, Timmins (LTIR)

According to head coach Sheldon Keefe, he also wants to get John Tavares and Nylander "together on different lines". 

"We liked them together the other night," Keefe said. "That is part of it, but there is also getting John and Willy together on different lines.

"Auston and Willy have played a lot of good minutes together throughout their time together this year and previous years, so I don’t want to overthink how it went in Montreal," he said. "It is a little more about getting John and Will together and having Will and Auston on two different lines as we go into this week’s matchups."

The Leafs will take on the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Wells Fargo Center in south Philadelphia. 

Recommended articles: