William Nylander approached his debut as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs with slight trepidation about pressure and having not seen game action since the end of the SHL season, but the Leafs eighth overall pick did not show any signs of nervousness or rust, registering an assist in the Blue and White’s 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Budweiser Gardens in London, ON Saturday night.
The opening faceoff of the #leafs season. pic.twitter.com/ioDzKeyfBx
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) September 14, 2014Ryan Rupert, Matt Finn, Josh Leivo and David Broll scored for Toronto, Garret Sparks made 32 saves in the victory and a number of prospects put on a good display in front of Brendan Shanahan, Randy Carlyle and most of the Leafs coaching and management staff, but it was Nylander that impressed most in the Leafs first game during the four-day tournament.
“He’s got some things you can’t teach, he’s a real dynamic player… Marlies coach Gord Dineen said of the 18-year-old Swede. “He’s got a real innate sense of where the puck’s going to be and he created a couple turnovers where he almost forced the guy to move it and jumped in and picked off passes.…
The quest to make the NHL in his draft year will be challenging for Nylander, but he has top-end speed, play-making ability and the anticipation to take advantage of opposition mistakes. If he has the willingness to go to the net and durability to take the pounding that comes with playing against NHL competition, it will be a difficult decision for Carlyle and GM Dave Nonis.
On the blueline, Dineen was impressed with the play of Eric Knodel, who played with the Marlies at the end of last season after finishing his collegiate career at the University of New Hampshire and the defensive pairing of Viktor Loov and Tom Nilsson.
Loov was selected 209th overall in 2012 and has the size, strength and skating ability to potentially be an effective professional, but will return to play for MODO this year before making the jump to North America in 2015.
Nilsson was hard to miss on Saturday, as made his presence known to a couple Hawks forwards with solid hits, showed the strength to clear the front of the net and effectively got under the skin of Chicago rookie Jamie Wise to draw him into a boarding minor for a retaliatory hit.
“He’s sort of a combination of Carl Gunnarsson, as far as his positioning.… Dineen said. “He knows where the puck is going to come and he’s also got a physical side that stood out tonight.…
The Leafs take on the Ottawa Senators rookies at 7pm on Sunday, which can be seen on Rogers TV and Rogers Digital Cable across Ontario on Channel 368 SD, 369 HD and will be repeated at 11pm on Leafs TV.
Marlies coach Gord Dineen will make a number of lineup changes, as Nylander, Broll, Knodel, Leivo, Broll, free agent invitees Parker Bowles & Luke Philp will not dress. Christopher Gibson will start in goal, defenseman Karel Doetzel, forwards Ty Bilcke, Zachary Hall, Zachary Bratina, Walterri Hopponen and OHL leading scorer Connor Brown will see action for Toronto.
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