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Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander said that despite his team’s recent losses, their attitudes remain positive and he thinks they can get things turned around.Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters
How the mighty have fallen.
After taking just one point from the last 10 available to them, the Toronto Maple Leafs have plummeted from fifth in the Eastern Conference less than two weeks ago to 15th heading into Tuesday’s tilt against one of the four teams below them in the overall NHL standings: the St. Louis Blues.
Worst yet, they do so with an injury list getting longer by the day. With captain Auston Matthews, goaltender Anthony Stolarz, centre Scott Laughton and defenceman Chris Tanev already on injured reserve, the team was forced to add fellow blueliner Brandon Carlo to that group on Monday, and will be without Nicolas Roy for Tuesday’s game after the veteran centreman picked up an upper-body injury.
In their absence, the Leafs recalled forward Jacob Quillan from the American Hockey League, and picked up D-man Troy Stecher off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers in the hours before Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Chicago against the Blackhawks.
For Stecher, who joins his seventh team in 10 NHL seasons, those injuries give him a chance to play again. The 5-foot-10 defenceman was squeezed out in Edmonton by the arrival of young blueliners Ty Emberson and Alec Regula, admitting being put on waivers was “simply a numbers game,” and not an indicator that his play was no longer up to par.
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“Just excited for a fresh start,” he said after practice Monday. “Obviously seeing the team and how competitive they are and where they are in the standings, I knew it would be a motivated group that I’d be joining.
“So kind of goes hand in hand with the way I play, is play with a lot of motivation and bit of a chip on my shoulder. And I think the team is kind of that way as well.”
After going undrafted, the right-shot defenceman ultimately wound up with the Oilers, where he helped them reach the Stanley Cup final for the second straight season last June – playing eight games in the playoff run, including two in the final.
Having grown up in Vancouver, the 31-year-old was in the same age group as Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly, so knows all about Toronto’s alternate captain, having “chased him around my whole life.”
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Troy Stecher (51), seen here in October with the Edmonton Oilers, was picked up off waivers by the Leafs and will get an opportunity with his seventh NHL team.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
And while he joins the team at a low ebb, even looking in from afar, he feels the Leafs aren’t as bad as their current standing would suggest.
“I just think it’s kind of the nature of the way things are going,” he said. “Right now, they’re on a bit of a skid, but all it takes is one bounce, you get back in the win column and next thing you know, you have some belief.”
Stecher joined the team in Chicago for a night out with his new teammates, putting the on-ice misfortunes to one side and just getting to know each other a little better. Having started the season by playing 13 of its first 19 games at home, the team has missed out on some of the usual bonding activities the early part of the season normally provides.
William Nylander, who leads the team in scoring with 26 points in 16 games – good for fourth in the NHL heading into Monday night’s games – says the chance to blow off some steam was long overdue.
“I think we needed it,” he said.
The Swede, who has been held without a shot on net the past two games, has been encouraged to shoot more by head coach Craig Berube. Nylander has eight goals so far, and his 24.2 shooting percentage is easily the highest of his career, bettering the 17.8 per cent he put up last year.
“There are a couple chances where I’m looking to pass it maybe instead of shooting it,” he said. “So that’s probably what I would say, is get in the shooting mindset instead.”
At practice on Monday, Berube seemed more vocal than usual in barking out his on-ice instructions. While some players admitted there have been some games earlier in the season where their work ethic wasn’t high enough, the last few games have seen a return to the sweat equity demanded by their head coach.
And while the losses are mounting, the team isn’t about to overreact. The last time the team lost six games in a row was right before Mike Babcock got fired six years ago. While Berube’s position may not be under threat, there’s no time like the present to nip this losing streak in the bud.
“We’re losing but I think we’re feeling positive, I mean, trending, hopefully, in the right direction,” Nylander said. “So, yeah, I mean if this keeps going for another month [it’ll be a] different mood.”
