William Nylander Out Versus Blue Jackets: Leafs Announce His Replacement

After recording an assist in his return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup off the back of a 1-game hiatus, forward William Nylander will once again be sidelined in the second leg of their back-to-back slate.

The Maple Leafs didn't offer much information all day, which makes this announcement that much more surprising, but head coach Craig Berube wants to manage his lower-body injury at the moment,

So, in his place, rugged forward Sammy Blais will be making his Leafs debut tonight. The Leafs claimed him off waivers on the 6th of October from the Montreal Canadiens and he has been a healthy scratch in the previous 10 games.

How the lines will look remains to be seen, but expect a lot more shuffling. Nylander had been playing on Auston Matthews' wing the last few games, which could mean a promotion for Nicholas Robertson, who had previously skated on the first line in Saturday's game.

Considering it will be Blais' debut, he would likely take up a fourth line role alongside Steven Lorentz and Max Domi. The 29-year-old brings a heavy game to the Leafs lineup with 835 hits collected across 7 seasons, including 194 last year with St. Louis.

Add in some familiarity from his time with the Blues when Berube was the head coach, he should be more than ready to adapt to his north-south system.

Off the back of consecutive one-goal victories, the Leafs will look to increase their winning streak to 3 games tonight against Columbus. No starting goaltender news has been shared, but considering it's a back-to-back, expect Cayden Primeau to be in between the pipes for this one.