Nylander, Tavares reunite as Leafs aim to snap skid

Right winger William Nylander has gone three straight games without a point and the Leafs have lost all three games. So, head coach Craig Berube is making a change. Nylander will reunite with centre John Tavares on the second line for Monday's game against the undefeated Jets. 

"They've been successful in the past," Berube told reporters in Winnipeg. "There's some good chemistry there ... Just trying to find a little bit more scoring on some other lines."

Toronto has mustered just four goals in 5-on-5 play in the past three games with two of the goals coming late during a blowout loss in Columbus. The Leafs have gotten no production from the second line of Nylander, Max Domi and Bobby McMann during this 0-2-1 skid. 

Tavares and Nylander started the season together before the veteran pivot moved to the third line. 

Berube senses frustration setting in with Nylander, who made uncharacteristic turnovers in the last two games, which led directly to goals against. 

"If he doesn't get the puck enough it's hard," Berube said. "He's a guy that needs the puck in his hands. We got to try to find a way to get the puck into his hands a little bit more in areas where he can expose the opposition."

Veteran winger Max Pacioretty will also move up to the second line and is looking forward to playing with Nylander, who leads the team with five goals. 

"He's one of the best skaters in the league," Pacioretty told reporters. "Tremendous offensive abilities. I got to try and make it a little bit simple and make it a little bit easier on him. They got some big boys over there that want to check hard. I want to create a little space."

Nylander was not available to the media following Monday's skate. 

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McMann and Domi will remain together on the third line with Pontus Holmberg, a healthy scratch on Saturday, joining that unit. 

McMann played a season-low 8:14 in Boston and was benched after his turnover led to a goal against in the second period. The message from Berube? 

"Every shift is important," the coach said. "Every situation is important, and just more urgency in his game. And I think he can be a lot more physical than he is. You know, he gives it physicality in his skating, you can see the power there and stuff, but he needs more consistency."

Nick Robertson will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season. After scoring five times in his final three pre-season games, the 5-foot-9 winger has just one goal on 15 shots in nine regular-season games. 

"He's been fine," Berube said. "Nicky's worked extremely hard. He obviously hasn't had much puck luck and, you know, just missed shots and things like that. But he's done a lot of good things. It's just with Winnipeg tonight, it's a pretty big team, you want some size in the lineup tonight."

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The Leafs are finally splitting up the core four forwards on the power play. Tavares and Nylander are moving to the second unit. Matthew Knies and Pacioretty will join Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the top group. 

"It's all about results, right, for the most part," Berube said. "And, you know, we're not getting them. So, we got to try something different and a little bit more direct. This should make it a little bit more direct. It's about getting action at the net more. We need to get more action at the net. Good net front, strong guys at the net that can win puck battles around there and things like that. So, that's what we're looking for with these units."

The Leafs are 3-for-30 on the season. The only significant change they've made to the top unit previously this season was switching Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the top. 

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The Leafs have signed defenceman Jake McCabe to a five-year, $22.55-million contract extension.

"It's really exciting for me and my family," the 31-year-old from Wisconsin told reporters. "My wife and kids love it in Toronto. Having a young family, stability was really important to me. I don't want to have my kids moving around a bunch later in my career to who knows what situation."  

The average annual value of the contract is $4.51 million.

"I love this group in here," said McCabe, who was acquired from Chicago in a trade on Feb. 27, 2023. "I really believe in this group in here and believe we can do special things. It's been a seamless transition from the get-go."

McCabe is averaging 21 minutes and nine seconds of ice time per game under Berube, which would be a career high. He leads the team with a plus-six mark. He also leads the team's defence in hits. 

"He's a team-first guy," Berube said. "Hard defender, hard to play against. He's the type of D-man you want on your hockey team."

"I love my teammates," said McCabe. "Our staff here is second to none, honestly, throughout the whole league. Medical staff, training staff, communications staff, you name it, everyone's extremely professional and they take such good care of us here." 

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Lines at Leafs skate: 

F

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Pacioretty - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Holmberg
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves

D

Rielly - Ekman-Larsson 
McCabe - Tanev
Benoit - Timmins 

G

Stolarz
Woll 

Power-play units at Leafs skate: 

PP1

Knies
Marner - Pacioretty - Matthews 
Rielly

PP2

Tavares 
Domi - McMann - Nylander 
Ekman-Larsson