#william-nylander

#william-nylander

"For me, it is puck management," Berube said during his post-game media availability. "I thought our puck management was really good tonight. We made really good decisions with it. We moved it well. We kept our shifts short. We talked about how it is important to keep your shifts short here, and the guys did a really good job of it."

He is obviously a great player with skill and speed. He adds offense. He adds in a lot of areas. It is great to have him back. Those are tough decisions, but I tweaked it a little. I kept that Roy line together; I've just really liked what they've been doing lately. That is just the way it goes when you have people out, and they come back. You have to make some lineup changes.

It's Tom Wilson, future Olympian and formerly despised pariah. Please forgive me; I'm about to piss a lot of you off with a graph. Here is Tom Wilson compared to pest-cum-superstar Brad Marchand: Except for Wilson's ACL injury, they're the same dude. They're a low-ice-time drama king who slowly worked his way up the lineup. Now they're indispensable, but they're still drama kings.

What is your reaction to the Bobby McMann one-game suspension, given that you also lost a player to injury in Dakota Mermis? Berube: To be honest with you, I don't really know. We lose a guy for probably a month at least, and there was nothing that I've heard. [Bobby's] wasn't much... I thought it was more him getting bumped. I know you have to be in control of your stick, but I don't think it is worth a suspension.

Nylander spoke about his relationship with his coach during an interview with The Athletic's Jonas Siegel, touching on how beneficial Berube has been in playing a simple game. "He's very easy to talk to," Nylander said. "It's like any coach. Sometimes you butt heads, and you get into it now and then. But that's different. That's the hockey part. But he's also just a regular person that you can talk to about whatever."

"To be honest, I don't even know what I was thinking, but it was a little bit reactionary, I think. But it was nice to find the back of the net early."

Auston Matthews has been locked with winger Matthew Knies to start the season but for a jolt of offense, Berube decided to have William Nylander on Matthews's right and gutsy winger Bobby McMann on his left. This new-look first line received some praise from the bench boss. "They looked really good," Berube said of Matthews and Nylander playing together Friday night. "They were quick. They supported each other really well and were strong on pucks. There was a lot of offensive-zone time. A lot of good things from that line."

Tavares seems to be the most underrated leader on this team and possibly in the entire NHL. He had the awareness to walk away from the captaincy, hand it over to a player in Auston Matthews who is the true future of the franchise and was already the leader on the ice, and then took a massive pay cut to remain with the Leafs and give them enough financial flexibility to possibly remain competitive.