Toronto Maple Leafs: 10 Storylines to Follow This Seasons

Sep 26, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (62) skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Will William Nylander Get Called Up?

If there is a player that Leafs fans should be excited for moving forward it should be Nylander. Yes there should be excitement for Mitch Marner when he makes it up to either the Toronto Marlies and the Leafs but seeing what Nylander is doing right now he should have the spotlight. Sure there were people who had there issues with Nylander being selected with the eight overall pick in 2014 before players like Nick Ritchie, and Dylan Larkin but if he is given time to develop he can be one of the best players in the draft.

Sep 21, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (62) skates against the Ottawa Senators at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Ottawa 4-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

While Larkin is playing well with the Detroit Red Wings right now without a full season in the AHL many are wondering if Nylander is capable of the same thing. At 19 years old he has 23 points in 17 games this season after scoring 32 points in 37 games last season, it is comforting to see a player like him not get overwhelmed in a tough league like the AHL. However the AHL is not the NHL, and just because Nylander is lighting it up there it does not mean that he will do it with the Leafs right away. If the Leafs are committed to rebuilding then Nylander should spend as much time in the AHL as he needs.

Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe is important for Nylander because he is given the tough role of keeping the young players attention on multiple aspects of his game not just his offence. This is what Keefe had to say about Nylander’s progress this season. 

"“That said, we’ll continue to work with him at both ends of the ice. And the challenge is to keep his feet moving, put the opposition defence under even more pressure . . . where his game needs to grow is focusing on being involved, not checking in and out of the game. Our power play has not been as good as we would like, and we feel Willy can help there too”."

Sep 23, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (62) heads up ice against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The only time Leafs fans may see Nylander come up is near the end of the season but even then there is no telling what position the Leafs will be in. Keefe has said that Nylander will continue to work on his two way game including faceoffs which is an important thing for Babcock. A player like Nylander needs to learn how to play without the puck and get it back when he does not have it. That means working on the forecheck and working hard to take the puck off of opposing players. It is much better for Nylander to have those skills before coming to the NHL. Nylander is far from being a perfect player but he is not far off and that should have many people excited.

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