William Nylander needs to flick the switch before playoffs

It’s not often you hear Nylander so frustrated when speaking to the media but unfortunately this late-season slump is getting to him. Can he break out of it? Of course he can! It’s more concerning that he’s often been floating around too often for someone that the Maple Leafs rely so heavily on.

Nylander’s frustrated and rightfully so. He’s become accustomed to results game in and game out, and right now not much is going his way. He managed to get out of a mini-slump once he signed his mega-extension on January 8 but after only a few games without producing, he found his groove and was back to his dominant self.

While Nylander is stuck on a career-high 40 goals and is only three points away from 100 on the season, the concerning part is his effort level. There have been numerous shifts the past couple of weeks where Nylander is not engaged, he’s not in proper defensive position and if you’re not going to find the scoresheet, you better be able to keep your opponents from doing so. This goal the Detroit Red Wings scored on Saturday night was a prime example of ‘bad Willy’:

Looking back at the previous three postseasons, Nylander has been a point-a-game player and there’s no reason why it can’t be the very same story this season. For most of the year, Nylander has been hunting down pucks, he’s been able to score some timely goals and he’s been engaged for a full 60 minutes. I’d put him with Tavares and Marner on a loaded-up second line and let them go to work together. They’ve shown they can dominate and that’s exactly what they’ll need to do if the Maple Leafs want to go deep these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If Nylander is out there floating around, shying away from contact and losing his defensive assignment, Toronto stands no chance. Let’s hope the switch gets flicked in time for when the games matter most.