It means that Nylander is also missing an element to his game that the entire roster is sorely missing—physicality.
Nylander has been buzzing and creating chances, no doubt, but he’s still a perimeter player that shies away from contact.
So long as the Leafs roster is built on speed and skill, they’ll continue to underwhelm when the games start to mean something. In the playoffs, when both teams are givin’ ‘er, it’s the physical aspect that separates winners from losers. Physicality creates turnovers, gives your team a spark, causes your opponent to play apprehensively—that’s the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs.
Despite Nylander’s success threading the twine this post-season, he’s still no different than Marner in the sense that they’re not going to physically impose themselves on their opponents and that’s what the Leafs need. A guy like Simmonds doesn’t cut it when the skill component is lacking.
Some smaller skilled players manage to lower their center of gravity and play more truculent in the playoffs, neither Nylander nor Marner are capable of that and that is why the Leafs fortunes in the playoffs are what they have been. I’m not going to make excuses for any one player because I don’t care for them—it’s the roster as a whole that needs fixing and Nylander, unfortunately, doesn’t bring anything to the table that the Leafs roster as a whole doesn’t already have plenty of.
