Update on Nylander, Timmins and the Leafs' projected starter on Thursday against Seattle
Following yet another big night for William Nylander on Tuesday, during which he scored a goal and added two helpers for 3 points against St. Louis, the slick-skating Swede was absent from practice on Wednesday, causing some confusion and concern from within the fanbase. Well, fans can park any concern for now, because according to PostMedia's Lance Hornby, Nylander's absence was simply a maintenance day.
Obviously, that's quite a relief, given the fact that Nylander is now up to 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points on the season. He is also the current points leader for the Leafs, sitting one ahead of Auston Matthews, who has 44 points on the season.
In other Leafs news, it would appear as though Conor Timmins will remain sidelined, as he skated as an extra defenseman again today in practice. It's a great problem to have if you're Sheldon Keefe, having too many good, NHL-caliber defensemen that at least 2 of them have to sit in the press box.
Lastly, all signs point towards Matt Murray drawing in for the 3rd time in the last 4 games for the Leafs. Part of it, I'm sure, is to avoid having Murray go long stretches without playing. However, I'm sure that a part of it is that Ilya Samsonov, who had a rough game last night against the Blues, is really struggling. Having Murray in net can hopefully stop the bleeding a bit and give Samsonov some time to reset mentally before the team's back-to-back against Detroit and Philly this weekend.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 4 | 235 ANSWERS Update on Nylander, Timmins and the Leafs' projected starter on Thursday against Seattle Will the Leafs start Samsonov on Saturday against Detroit or Sunday against Philly? | ||
| Saturday | 82 | 34.9 % |
| Sunday | 153 | 65.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
