Toronto Maple Leafs: Players to Watch During Training Camp

Oct 3, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (62) and Detroit Red Wings forward Luke Glendening (41) battle for the puck at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Detroit 5-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

William Nylander

At the rookie tournament, Nylander was by far the best player on the roster. He scored a great goal – probably the goal of the tournament against the Pittsburgh Penguins – while distributing the puck efficiently.

He made the move back to centre for the tournament, after playing most of last year on the wing with the Toronto Marlies. Expect Nylander to play at centre during the preseason, although that will be Babcock’s decision.

Generally, rookies play on the wing with Babcock, before getting moved over to centre. A lot of other teams do it with their rookies like Kadri, Tyler Seguin, and Nathan MacKinnon.

Jonas Siegel from TSN wrote a piece looking at the Leafs future at centre, with Marner and Nylander. If there is a rookie forward that will push for a roster spot it will be Nylander, but it would not hurt for him to go back to the Marlies and get stronger as a centreman.

Next: Peter Holland