How Can the Maple Leafs Get the Most Out of William Nylander?

Overall, it seems that motivating Nylander will require a combination of tough love and positive reinforcement. That includes a focus on building his confidence and encouraging him to trust in his abilities. Coach Sheldon Keefe will need to find the right balance between pushing Nylander to improve his defensive game and allowing him to play to his strengths as an offensive threat.

Three Key Points from the Boudreau Interview

Summarizing the interview, three key points were made.

Key Point One: The Maple Leafs will need to motivate William Nylander in Round 2 against the Panthers.

Key Point Two: As an old coach has learned, Boudreau believes NHL coaches should come to know their players well and use different approaches to motivate them based on their personalities and strengths.

Key Point Three: In an odd turn of an old phrase, Boudreau believes Maple Leafs’ coach Keefe should find the “Achilles heel” of each of his players (what motivates them to play better). He should then employ what he learns to make them better.

Some methods that might work include admonishing them in front of players, benching them, giving them more ice time, or putting their arms around them and encouraging them to do better.

The Bottom Line with Young NHL Players

In other words, former NHL coach Boudreau believes that coaches should do whatever they find works with each individual player.

To be the Devil’s Advocate for a bit. I don’t take Boudreau’s comments as the gospel truth. They come at an interesting time given what’s happening in Calgary with the Flames.

From the news emerging from the team, the impact of (former) coach Darryl Sutter’s strageties to movitabe players obviously were not well received. He obviously incorrectly strategized how to motivate Flames’ players and his players pushed back.

Personally, I simply cannot believe any professional hockey player would be motivated over the long term by being verbally criticized in public and in front of his teammates. How can that ever be a successful strategy?