Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube explained after Saturday’s 6-3 loss that the reason he benched William Nylander was just for his performance.
It was not the game the Maple Leafs envisioned when they took the ice on Saturday, as the Edmonton Oilers hung six goals on the, including five unanswered; leading to a blowout loss and Toronto needing to give Artur Akhtyamov his first taste of NHL action.
It was a stagnant effort all around and the team was outpaced and dominated by Connor McDavid all night, pushing his absurd stats against Toronto even higher with a three-point night.
Craig Berube benches William Nylander for being sick, not his production
But on the inverse, Toronto’s stars were non-existent and it led to William Nylander being benched towards the end of the game. He was a last-minute add to the lineup after being sick and you could tell all night. Sluggish and lacking a real punch, Nylander was completely neutralized.
It was an issue that Craig Berube noted in his post-game comments, and although Nylander was a minus-three, the head coach is not worried about his performance because he was barely able to take the ice in the first place:
He wasn’t even close to 75 per cent. I mean, he was sick. But he played. I didn’t feel there was any reason to keep playing him.
Nylander only had 13:46 TOI, a season low, and didn’t register a shot. But you can’t fault a sick Nylander when no one else contributed. Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies combined for only seven shots, and a minus-four rating.
Toronto’s collapse leads to several questions for Maple Leafs
The best line all night arguably was Toronto’s fourth line, with Scott Laughton, Steven Lorentz, and Easton Cowan pulling their weight at least. The trio combined for four points (2 goals, 2 assists) and were a plus-five; at least they showed up.
You gotta feel bad for Dennis Hildeby too, as he was given no real chance to succeed tonight and was pulled after letting in six goals on 32 shots. While the math doesn’t seem to check out, Troy Stecher scored an own goal.
But it leads to a few questions that need to be answered soon. First, what’s going on with Matthews? He has been less than effective and a shell of the player he used to be; whatever is going on is hurting the team and it needs to be addressed.
Secondly, what can Toronto do to keep pace with teams like Edmonton? They were out-skated all night, and from the get-go you could see that McDavid and company were going to run circles around them:
That continued on all game, and it’s an issue that the Maple Leafs are going to have trouble with if they don’t figure something out.
These aren’t the only questions, and those will need to be addressed in the coming weeks once the team gets a better idea of their direction in the new year.
But if they don’t figure out something soon, then it’s going to be an even rougher 2026, with no guarantees they’ll end up in the playoffs. If that happens, what’s next?
Previously on Hockey Patrol
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Craig Berube explains his decision to bench William Nylander
Should William Nylander have just sat out the game vs. Edmonton?