William Nylander Coy About Why Maple Leafs Struggled This Season
After Friday's practice, Nylander said he had ideas of why the season went wrong, but wasn't willing to share more.
There might not be a more unique relationship within the Toronto Maple Leafs than head coach Craig Berube and William Nylander. In the almost two seasons that Berube has been behind Toronto's bench, we've seen every side of their relationship. Go back to last season, and not even a month into Berube's tenure, Nylander was in constant communication with the coach about more ice time.
He had 19:55 per game in the season prior under Sheldon Keefe, but in his first 10 games with Berube behind the bench, Nylander's ice time dropped almost two minutes, to 18:01. "I mean, that is a little bit what I've been trying to talk to Chief about," said Nylander at the time. "I think it helps my game a lot to do what I want to be able to do out there, so yeah, hopefully something to figure out.
" Nylander finished last season averaging 19:31 of ice time, the second-most of his career, behind the season prior with Keefe as head coach. In Nylander's second season with Berube on the bench, his average ice time has dipped to 19:07. It's not just ice time that the two chat about.
Berube has said countless times during his tenure that the two have an open line of communication. Those discussions could range from ice time to, on other occasions, Nylander wanting to try a certain play out. "I have a lot of conversations with him, which I enjoy," Berube said back in Jan.
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