The Toronto Maple Leafs will be facing off against the Boston Bruins for the first round of the playoffs this year. However, head coach Sheldon Keefe revealed that the team may be without William Nylander for the start of the series.
Both Nylander and Bobby McMann missed the team practice today as they are dealing with minor injuries. Surprisingly, Sheldon Keefe implied that there is a chance neither player gets into game one, calling them 'possibilities' rather than certainties. This is especially odd for Nylander, who played in all 82 regular-season games.
As part of the announcement, Keefe also noted that the team will not be providing daily updates on player injuries throughout the playoffs. This is a clear message that we will be getting very little information about injuries Leafs players sustain throughout the grueling playoffs.
Some of this is likely just gamesmanship from Keefe. Basically everyone in the hockey word is expecting William Nylander to play game one against the Bruins, even if he is dealing with a minor injury. That is just what star players do during the playoffs. However, this could mean that Nylander won't be as effective as perhaps Leafs fans would hope. After all, he did end the regular season with just two points in his final five games and incurred a -5 rating.
