Why Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube is Beginning William Nylander at Middle Throughout Staff's Coaching Camp

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September 19, 2024

As Maple Leafs coaching camp begins on Thursday, William Nylander will begin at heart, for the second straight season. Nevertheless, this time, it could possibly be slightly totally different.

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Maple Leafs head coach revealed the change through the staff’s media day on Wednesday morning, including that Max Domi will start coaching camp on the 28-year-old’s wing.

“Yeah, there’s quite a lot of that that goes on all through the summer time earlier than camp, you realize, mixtures and this and that. Once more, issues change. Everyone knows that,” Berube stated.

“I’ll begin Willy within the center right here in camp, and Max might be going to be on his wing proper now to start out, and that is what we’ll begin with for now and go from there.”

#Leafs head coach Craig Berube says William Nylander will begin coaching camp at centre with Max Domi on his wing.

— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) September 18, 2024

Nylander started Maple Leafs coaching camp at heart final 12 months and performed two preseason video games on the place earlier than being moved again to the wing underneath then-Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe.

The ahead was drafted as a middle and has performed it a number of occasions all through his profession. With a brand new coach, and this potential change, it is unlikely to counsel that it’ll final for just some video games.

“Nicely, I feel that with (Nylander’s) talent set, he is usually a nice transporter of the puck from our personal zone to the offensive zone,” Berube stated. “He is robust, he is massive, he is expert. Anytime you may get someone like that in the midst of the ice, I consider that is an actual vital piece.”

Domi additionally hung out final season with the Maple Leafs on the wing, primarily alongside Auston Matthews and Tyler Bertuzzi, that means this is not a brand new improvement for the 29-year-old ahead.

Given his playmaking talents and his velocity on the wing, a Domi and Nylander duo might do harm within the common season. Hopefully this time, although, the experiment with Nylander at heart goes into the season and never simply throughout coaching camp.

“It is a aggressive camp. I really feel up entrance, on the back-end, and in objective, there’s quite a lot of competitors, which is nice,” Berube stated on Wednesday forward of the primary day of Toronto‘s coaching camp, which opens on Thursday.

Nylander completed final season with 40 targets and 58 assists for a career-high 98 factors in 82 video games. He is coming into the primary 12 months of an eight-year deal which carries an annual common worth of $11.5 million.