Will Nylander Behave This Season? Let’s Hope Not.

There was a little episode early last season that probably tells us more about William Nylander and Craig Berube than either one intended. Nylander was apparently fooling around at practice when Berube yelled at him to shoot. Later, when Berube was asked what he would do differently, he said he would not have let his players get away with so much. In his view, perhaps that was part of what went wrong with the Maple Leafs.

Fair enough, I suppose. But imagine the same season from Nylander’s point of view.

It wasn’t as if Nylander wasn’t playing well.

Nylander knows what's going on because he's on the ice. Even in a down season, he put up 79 points in only 65 games. He was coming off a 98-point season, had established himself as one of the NHL's elite offensive players and was playing under a massive new contract.

And yet, there was clearly some sandpaper between him and his coach. Nylander isn't a player who will look like everyone else. He has never played that way. He's creative, he's unpredictable, and sometimes he looks like he's having more fun than the coach would prefer. But that's also part of what makes him so good.

Berube had asked the Maple Leafs to play differently, and it wasn’t working.

The interesting question is what happens when a coach asks a player like that to play differently. Berube had his reasons. Coaches have to establish standards, and nobody should get a free pass because he can score goals. But Nylander also had a pretty good reason to wonder whether some of those demands were helping him become a better player or simply taking him away from the things that made him an elite offensive threat.

And Nylander never really complained publicly. He just kept playing.

That's one of the things that makes this season so interesting. Berube’s gone, and a new coach will have different standards.

What should be the hope for the Maple Leafs’ season?

This coming season, the Maple Leafs shouldn’t hope that Nylander will “behave.” Quite the opposite. The hope should be that Nylander feels comfortable enough to be Nylander again.

Toronto certainly needs the responsible version of Nylander. But it also needs the creative, slightly unpredictable, elite offensive player who can take over a game. If Jim Hiller can give Nylander the freedom to do what he does best while still demanding the work and responsibility the coach expects, the Maple Leafs could have something pretty valuable.

A happy Nylander isn't necessarily a quiet Nylander. And that might be exactly what Toronto needs.