Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
After Thursday’s 4-0 loss to the Capitals, the leadership of the Maple Leafs needs to start showing up and it’s William Nylander who has stepped up to the challenge.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs struggling to find themselves right now, the team is searching for answers to fix not only a struggling power play, but a fractured locker room.
William Nylander shows leadership qualities ahead of Maple Leafs practice
He’s implored the team leaders to start stepping up and while the results show the complete opposite, at least there is one player who has decided that he should try and lead by example; even if it doesn’t lead to immediate success.
With Toronto taking their practice in Washington on Friday afternoon before they head to Nashville for Saturday night, it was William Nylander who took the ice ahead of everyone else and showed at minimum a recognition that more work needs to be done.
Why Nylander showing up now matters
Nylander has had his fair share of criticism lately, especially from head coach Craig Berube who has seemingly been driven up the wall when it comes to the star forward’s defensive game, and he hasn’t been that offensive juggernaut we saw earlier.
But he still has four points in his last five games, and he’s leading the team in points still by a fair margin (36 for Nylander, 30 for John Tavares in second). He hasn’t been Auston Matthews level of ineffective, but when his heart isn’t into it, boy it shows.
At least Nylander is trying to show some type of heart, and while it might not reflect on the scoreboard or immediately lead to positive results, at least someone in the locker room can recognize they aren’t perfect and need to work on things.
Right now, the Maple Leafs are a team teetering on a complete disaster. If they don’t get things sorted out promptly, it’s going to lead to a lot of changes for management and the roster.
But if there’s anything positive we can take away from this is that at least William Nylander is taking some accountability. Let’s just hope others decide to follow in his footsteps.
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Rare sight at practice as William Nylander steps up with leadership moment
Do you respect William Nylander more for showing up early?