Ever since William Nylander ended his contract holdout and agreed to a six-year, $41.4 million deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he’s struggled to get back into the flow of things. It’s understandable that a player being plopped into game action in December, going up against players that are already in the groove of things, might experience a slow start, but the fact remains that Nylander has just a goal and two assists through 19 games.
Demoted to the fourth line against the Florida Panthers on Friday, Nylander finished scoreless with a -3 in 12:15 of ice time; the Leafs lost 3-1, the sixth loss in their last nine games. Nylander acknowledged after the game that this is the worst slump of his career, although he pushes back on the notion that it might be a byproduct of his contract holdout.
The Leafs seemed to be a deep offensive team earlier in the season with more concerns on the defensive end, but over the last patch of games, they’ve been in a pronounced scoring slump as a team. Any contributions from Nylander right now would be especially helpful for his team.
Unfortunately, to the amusement of much of the hockey internet, Nylander still has yet to pass Jaroslav Halak in points this season. That’s right, Boston Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak, who has amassed three assists in 25 games this season — which isn’t even that much of a head start over Nylander’s 19!
