Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander finally made his long awaited return after the longest RFA contract holdouts in RFA history. Head coach Mike Babcock didn't waste any time as after only one practice Nylander was thrown right into the mix on a line with Auston Matthews. Nylander's ice time was slowly cut down before he eventually being pinned to the bench as he didn't play during the last 11 minutes of the game. After eventually landing some shifts with the fourth line, Nylander registered 12:29 minutes of total ice time. "I thought Willy was fine. It was probably unfair for me...we never even gave the guy a practice. He had an opportunity we felt to get going, we tried to get going. It has nothing to do with Willy; it has to do with me wanting to win the game" Babcock said following the game.
Nylander knows he's got some work to put in to get going. "It felt okay. There's a lot of different from practicing by yourself. I started feeling better. Legs were okay. Felt like it was an okay first game." said Nylander.
