Maple Leafs Officially Bestow Prestigious Honour Upon Star Forward William Nylander

The Toronto Maple Leafs walked into enemy territory severely banged up with Chris Tanev and Morgan Rielly both sidelined for tonight's contest against the Buffalo Sabres.

Tanev's situation required a stint on the injured reserve, whereas Rielly is currently day-to-day. Nevertheless, that left a massive void on the back-end that was filled in by Dakota Mermis and Phil Myers, as well as a void in the leadership department.

With Rielly donning one of the "A's" this season, his absence allowed William Nylander to officially join the leadership group with a letter on his jersey. John Tavares is wearing the other "A", with Auston Matthews, of course, being the captain.

Nylander will more than likely don the A until Rielly is able to make his return, which could be as soon as tomorrow night in their rematch against the Sabres. If he remains out of the lineup again, Nylander could continue wearing it through their next back-to-back that's set for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The interesting idea here would be that if Nylander represents the team well as an alternate captain, perhaps the Leafs will just leave the A on his sweater, as they may deem that he has earned it.