New experiment in Toronto leads to critical lineup changes for Saturday’s game

During the preseason, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube experimented with different line combinations and will now have to revisit the idea of playing William Nylander at center with injuries piling up. With Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty sidelined, and with the possibility of having to play without Max Domi on Saturday when the Edmonton Oilers come to Toronto, Nylander has been tasked with manning the middle once again after several failed attempts.

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Nylander, who was drafted as a center, started Maple Leafs’ training camp last year, but only played two preseason games at the position before being moved back to the wing under then-Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe. Nylander was excited at the idea of playing down the middle in September, but the experiment didn’t last much longer. Back in training camp, Nylander was often paired with countryman Calle Järnkrok on his right. The new experiment now has it with Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson. 

There is a huge amount of potential with Nylander down the middle as he is a much better center than people think.
Berube even appeared to give him in vote of confidence:

“He’s really good in the face-up dot. He’s like 55% on the year, which is good. He was fine in the middle today. He looked good to me.”

Nylander to-center experiment is back in play as the Maple Leafs still need time for star centers to recover from injuries, while giving them a look at their potential second-line center for the future.