CarltonTheBear said:
herman said:
https://twitter.com/overdrive1050/status/1842319106529226780
?Craig wanted to get him some reps on the wing?
That was my interpretation initially. Berube?s system is new to the Leafs. Willy started at centre, but he?s usually the first guy getting accordions into a power shift so he does need to know wing routes/marks as well. If he?s going to be stuck with Domi, you might as well get them both mixing and matching on the fly.
They said similar things when Keefe pulled the plug last year too. It's over. Dream is dead.
If they were sincerely trying to work him into playing center, he needs to play there. Bouncing him around isn't going to get him oriented to playing center any time soon.
Berube's comment about Nylander working on faceoffs: Since 2016-17, among Leafs, Nylander is 6th in faceoffs taken (1,618) with a 50.7 win%. I realize that the concern might be more than just winning the draw. But if Nylander is going to get better at it, he needs the experience of playing the position. That is not rocket science. Berube knows this. And 50.7 win% isn't a bad starting place. He needs the reps.
Nylander strikes me as a very unique talent. There is no prior Leaf closely similar to him that I can think of off hand. He's like an artist on blades. He seems to think the game differently and in a split second, make it up as he goes along as circumstances present themselves. He does stuff that leaves you wondering 'how did he visualize that so quickly with all the moving parts on the ice?" It is not as widely cerebral as Gretzky. It tends to be more driven to "how do I get this rubber into the net" making rapid, unpredictable decisions on the fly.
He's above the fray of the Toronto media happily marching to the beat of his own drum.
How do you coach that? You flirt with messing with his special gift.
It is one thing for a winger to be as he is. A center has more defensive responsibility. Nylander has all the physical tools but he has a different mental make up. I suspect that is what Keefe and Berube quickly ran into.
If they wanted to turn him into a center, he should be playing center 24/7.
They're not doing that so they've obviously concluded something else.
They'll pretend to tinker with it to save face going forward.