'Work in progress': Centre experiment takes detour for Leafs' Nylander

The Maple Leafs practised at the Ford Performance Centre on Monday before travelling to cottage country to start a team-bonding trip.

The William Nylander centre experiment took a detour on Monday. Nylander and linemate Max Domi rotated between centre and right wing during practice. 

"It's a little hybrid today," head coach Craig Berube explained. "I want Max taking reps in the middle. I want Willy taking reps in the middle. That's why it was designed that way today."

"It's no big deal," Nylander insisted. "Wherever I end up playing, it doesn't matter."

At the start of training camp, Nylander made it clear he would need some runway in order to see if a move to the middle makes sense. He's only played one full pre-season game so far. His second pre-season game ended in the first period last Thursday after Nylander hit his head and needed to leave for precautionary reasons.  

"In that aspect it's been a little weird," Nylander said of the limited game reps. "But other than that, I mean, I've been grinding every day. It's not been easy practices. It's been hard and a lot of defensive work, so it's been good."

The Leafs also experimented with Nylander at centre at the start of last year's training camp under former coach Sheldon Keefe. That audition only lasted two pre-season games before the 28-year-old Swede moved back to the wing where he has played almost all of his NHL career. 

"'Chief' also wants me to be able to play the wing, if that happens," said Nylander, referring to Berube by his nickname. "So, it's just going back and forth. It's still training camp."

However, we're now in the last week of training camp and the NHL regulars will likely only suit up in one more pre-season game. 

"Listen, it's a work in progress is the way I'd put it," said Berube. "It's not easy to just switch it over and play centre. Like, it's a lot more on your plate. But, you know, I think he's done a pretty good job of it, to be honest with you."

If Nylander is able to move to the middle, it would bolster Toronto's depth at the pivotal position. Toronto's other centre options – Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Domi, Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, Steven Lorentz and Fraser Minten – are all lefties.  

"Throughout the season, it'd be nice to have a right-handed faceoff guy," Berube said. "We don't have one, so it'd be nice to have. So, Willy, he's going to keep working at it."

When Nylander moved back to the wing last year, Keefe said the emergence of Minten as a centre option changed how he viewed the lineup. After a four-game look in the regular season, Minten was sent back to juniors and Holmberg was called up. 

Minten is currently sidelined with a high ankle sprain.   

Lorentz is at camp on a professional tryout. 

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Tavares (lower body) and Calle Jarnkrok (lower body) did not take part in Monday's practice, but skated with other injured players. Berube expects the pair of veteran forwards to join the main group for the next practice on Wednesday. 

Bobby McMann, who missed Saturday's session for maintenance, returned to practice on Monday. He skated on the line with Nylander and Domi. 

Defenceman Jani Hakanpää (knee) and forward Connor Dewar (shoulder) have yet to join the main group at training camp. 

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Berube smiled when asked about his favourite team-bonding trip as a player. 

"Mike Keenan took us to Lake Placid," the 58-year-old recalled. "I was a rookie. It was in the middle of the year and we went there for three days. We get dressed for practice, right? We're going to go out to practice and here comes Mike Keenan in the room fully dressed [in gear]. He says, 'Let's go, boys. You want a piece of me? I'm going to be playing today.' So, we went out to scrimmage and Mike was playing, but nobody took a shot at him. I got a good kick out of it, though."

Berube won't be doing anything like that this week as the Leafs head north. 

"I used to, back years ago," the coach said. "I would get involved in three-on-three and play two-pass games, but not so much anymore. The knees can't handle it."

Berube is a big believer in the power of team-bonding trips. 

"We've done them every year almost that I've coached," he said. "I've taken the team away. It's a great time for these guys to get together. It's hard in camp. A lot on the move in camp. It's nice to get our team here with some extra guys, get together, bond a little bit, play some golf, hang out as a staff, everybody, coaches, trainers, management, players. It's good for everybody."

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Ryan Reaves was asked what his favourite bonding trip has been over the years. 

"This one," the 37-year-old winger said. "This one today. Anytime you can get the boys out for some golf and a couple beers and maybe some poker ... it's just a good time. It's just a good way to bond and get to know the new guys and kinda get the team together after a long summer and before the real grind starts."

Reaves revealed that the horse racing board game 'Derby Days' will feature prominently. 

"It's electric," he said.

They played it last year and, apparently, the usually mild-mannered Tavares got really into it. 

"Ask Johnny about it," Reaves said with a grin. "I don't think I've ever seen Johnny light up more than last year when we played this. Like, Johnny comes out of his shell once in a while, but he lost his shell when he saw that game. Oh, he loved it."

What does Nylander remember about that? 

"It was pretty late at night," he said with a laugh, "so, I don't remember." 

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Reaves is hoping to pull aside Marshall Rifai and offer some advice on fighting after the 26-year-old defenceman was bloodied by Montreal Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky on Saturday night. 

"He did well," said Reaves. "Obviously he got caught with one, but that happens. I got caught with a couple when I was younger too and those are big learning points. I think when you get caught with one like that, you look over and see what happened and what went wrong, and you adjust accordingly really quickly."

Slafkovsky grabbed Rifai by the hair at one point in the bout. 

"Sometimes it happens," Reaves said. "I think I got a major in a playoff game one time. I was trying to give a guy a face wash and I guess I had his hair. They said I was pulling his hair and obviously I wasn't trying to. But, yeah, it happens. Obviously, you don't wanna do that on purpose. It's not how fights should go in the NHL, but when you got hair flowing out of your helmet, what can you do?"

"I didn't really feel it," Rifai said on Saturday night. "So, all good."

Reaves didn't have a big issue with how Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj went after Cedric Pare, who had injured Patrik Laine with a hit earlier in the game. 

"Pare wasn't trying to do anything malicious," Reaves said. "Obviously feel for Laine, you know, trying to kind of reboot his career in a new city. An unfortunate play. Xhekaj, you know, he's there to do his job and the way the league dealt with it is the way the league dealt with it."

Pare did not get a penalty on Saturday. Xhekaj was given a major for fighting, a minor for instigating the fight, and a game misconduct. He also got fined by the NHL's Department of Player Safety. 

"That's just how the new rules are now," Reaves said. "It's hard to go about things like that because you got instigator rules. You got all these rules that are trying to make hockey safer, but that's just where the new NHL is. So, I'm sure everybody wishes it was handled a little different. Obviously, I'm sure everybody wishes that that incident didn't happen."

Reaves didn't dress in Saturday's game as the Leafs sent an inexperienced group to Montreal. 

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Joseph Woll is in line to make the season-opening start for the Leafs for the first time in his NHL career. 

"It'd be pretty special," the 26-year-old goalie said. "To be able to play in the Bell Centre opening night would be pretty cool and, yeah, I'm looking forward to that day."

Woll hasn't played since logging just over 30 minutes in the pre-season opener on Sept. 22. 

"He's going to get another game," Berube assured reporters. "He's going to get more work, so I'm not worried about it right now."

The Leafs have two pre-season games left on Thursday and Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. 

"When I'm called to go to the net, I'll go in the net and do my best," Woll said of his pre-season workload. "I think it's trying to get everyone into games and whatnot. So, yeah, I'm comfortable with where I'm at and excited to play some more hockey."

Anthony Stolarz, Dennis Hildeby and Matt Murray have all made two appearances in pre-season games. 

"It's important," Woll said of exhibition action. "Just kind of getting those final details that maybe you don't get as much in practice. It doesn't take too many games to kind of get that back and get in the swing of things but, yeah, I'm feeling comfortable with where I'm at."

Woll has dealt with a series of injuries in his young career, but Berube stressed that the workload in camp is not being dictated by the medical staff. 

"It has nothing to do with anything," Berube said. "Don't read into anything like that. It's the plan."

Woll only made two pre-season appearances last year. 

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Hildeby, who stands 6-foot-7, is enjoying being able to learn from the 6-foot-6 Stolarz at this camp. Murray, at 6-foot-5, is also a good sounding board. 

"They're pretty big," said the 6-foot-3 Woll with a laugh "I play a little bit different from them because I'm, unfortunately, not seven feet tall."

Instead, Woll keeps an eye on goalies like Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky and Vancouver's Thatcher Demko. 

"Guys like that, I think, are very good technically, but have a bit of an ability to be athletic and go out and make good saves," Woll noted. 

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Lines in Monday's practice: 

Knies - Matthews - Marner 
McMann - Domi / Nylander
Pacioretty - Holmberg - Robertson 
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves
Cowan, Grebenkin 

Rielly - Tanev 
Ekman-Larsson - McCabe 
Benoit - Timmins 
Rifai - Liljegren 

Woll 
Stolarz 
Murray