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With a hectic schedule that has them playing almost every other night, the Toronto Maple Leafs got in a rare practice at the MasterCard Center in Etobicoke, ON on Monday in advance of the final game of their four-game home stand against the New York Islanders at Air Canada Center on Tuesday.
The Leafs successful pace has slowed to a crawl since the All-Star break, with five losses in their last seven games. That has allowed Florida, New York and Tampa Bay to gain ground on Toronto, who are tied for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot with Philadelphia and just one point ahead of the Isles, who have gone 8-2-2 under interim coach Doug Weight.
INSPIRATION? Babcock unveils new slogan for slumping Leafs https://t.co/iDjS9em2Tw #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/Dg5AcFEaY5
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) February 13, 2017
In spite of some line juggling during the loss to Buffalo on Saturday, including pairing rookies Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, head coach Mike Babcock returned to his all-too-familiar line combinations and defensive pairings on Monday.
Nikita Soshnikov rotated with Josh Leivo on the fourth line alongside Ben Smith and Matt Martin, which could be an indication that the Russian winger will return on Tuesday after missing the last two games with an upper body injury.
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One change that will not be seen this season is the shifting of rookie William Nylander from the wing to center. The 20-year-old is producing offensively (14 G, 22 A in 53 games) in his first full season, but is still underdeveloped on the defensive side of the ice.
“(Nylander is) not (moving to the middle) this year for sure, and we’ll just look at our lineup and assess that in the off-season and go from there.… Babcock said.
It is unclear whether Leafs management and Babcock see Nylander as a center or a winger going forward.
After coming over from the SHL in January 2015, the 2014 top pick played mostly wing with the Toronto Marlies, but shifted to center full time the following fall.
Nylander led the American Hockey League in scoring until he departed for the 2016 World Junior in December, but missed five weeks due to a concussion suffered in the first game of the tournament.
When the speedy Swede was called up after the trade deadline, Babcock indicated that he preferred to use him on the wing, but was forced to play him at center for 22 games because the Leafs were shorthanded up the middle.
That preference resurfaced last summer, when the Leafs head coach said that Nylander would start training camp playing the right side with Matthews.
A position shift for Nylander is likely dependent on the future of center Tyler Bozak, who is signed through the 2017-18 season. If GM Lou Lamoriello decides to shop the soon-to-be 31-year-old in the summer, the only viable internal options to play center behind Matthews and Nazem Kadri would be shifting Marner or Nylander or playing Frederik Gauthier in something more than a fourth line role.
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