William Nylander's practice moment looks worse after Craig Berube firing.
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
William Nylander and Craig Berube turned one late-season drill into a Maple Leafs pressure point.
Toronto did not just miss the playoffs at 32-36-14. The room also stopped looking aligned when Auston Matthews was out.
Berube was fired on May 13, with no replacement named, after John Chayka called for an organizational shift.
The Nylander story now lands inside that bigger decision, not beside it.
Luke Fox described a power-play drill where Nylander was coasting, then fired right away after Berube told him to shoot with purpose.
The post makes the moment sound less like comedy and more like a bench losing control.
"I felt like there was a generational gap. I'll tell you a story. There was a practice at the end of the year when things started to go sideways and Nylander was coasting through the power-play drill, not passing the puck with purpose and not shooting it.
Berube yells 'Willy shoot the puck! If you have a look, take a look and shoot!' They start again and he immediately shoots it. Doesn't even do the drill. Berube says 'Willy, stop being such a d-word', you know he tried to have fun but Nylander never took it seriously right?"
- Luke Fox
Berube yells 'Willy shoot the puck! If you have a look, take a look and shoot!' They start again and he immediately shoots it. Doesn't even do the drill. Berube says 'Willy, stop being such a d-word', you know he tried to have fun but Nylander never took it seriously right?"
- Luke Fox
Nylander now becomes a culture test
Nylander's season was not empty. He posted 30 goals and 49 assists in 65 games, which is top-six production any coach wants.
But production was never Berube's only issue.
A winger carrying that much usage cannot treat a power-play rep like a private joke when the captain is gone and the season is sliding.
The Leafs allowed 3.60 goals per game, ranked 31st in the NHL, and closed the season 0-6-1. This was not one bad drill. It was a cracked standard.
Chayka can change the coach, but the next hire inherits the same star core.
Nylander does not need a lecture in skill. He needs to show the next bench boss that the details matter before puck drop in October.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
A horrific crash leaves John Tortorella facing a nasty Vegas problem
A horrific crash leaves John Tortorella facing a nasty Vegas problem