Leafs’ William Nylander doubtful Saturday against Jets

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be without one of their star forwards on Saturday night, as head coach Craig Berube told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Anna Dua, on Friday that William Nylander is considered doubtful the game on the road against the Winnipeg Jets.

Nylander exited the Leafs’ thrilling 6-5 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday with an injury, and according to Berube, he is still being evaluated.

The soon-to-be Swedish Olympian scored a goal and added an assist in the loss before leaving after just 2:17 of time on ice.

Despite missing some time with a separate injury earlier in the season, Nylander has continued to cement himself as one of the NHL’s most prolific offensive forwards. In 37 games, his 17 goals, 31 assists and 48 points have him tied for second on the team in goals and leading the club in both of the other categories.

This season is the first since 2021-22 in which Nylander will not play in all of Toronto’s 82 regular season games. While these injuries could cost him a chance at extending his three-year streak of reaching the 40-goal mark, his 1.30 points per game rate this season is the highest of his career.

Nylander’s offensive output has helped the Leafs right the ship in recent weeks after a start to the season that saw them sink to the very bottom of the Eastern Conference standings on occasion.

Currently, the Leafs sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 23-16-8, and they’re just two points behind the Boston Bruins for the conference’s second wild card spot with a game in hand.

Toronto will wrap up a three-game Western road trip in Manitoba on Saturday night, and they’ll return home for a big cross-conference showdown against the Minnesota Wild on Monday.