What Message Is Jim Hiller Sending the Maple Leafs?

Maybe the headline was wrong two days ago when I wrote about the Toronto Maple Leafs and what happened with William Nylander during the New York Islanders’ game. I might not have been completely off base. Just maybe a little too tidy.

The Maple Leafs don’t necessarily have a new rule because Jim Hiller benched Nylander on Wednesday night when he slowed down and let a puck get by him for a short-handed goal. Perhaps Hiller might be trying to establish something more important than a rule. Maybe I should have called it a standard.

For those who might have missed it, Nylander made a defensive mistake late in Toronto’s 2-1 win over the Islanders. Emil Heineman got behind him and scored shorthanded. Hiller pulled the unit immediately, and Nylander didn’t return for the rest of the game. That got everybody’s attention. But, in retrospect, one decision doesn’t create a culture.

For the Maple Leafs, Standards Are Different From Rules

Rules are easy. Don’t do this. Do that. Be here at this time.

Standards are harder. Standards are what everybody is expected to live up to even when nobody is watching. That’s what makes the Nylander situation interesting. The Maple Leafs have had coaches before who have benched players. They’ve had coaches who have talked about effort. They’ve had coaches who have demanded better defensive play.

So this isn’t new. The question now is whether Hiller can make it consistent.

Every Maple Leafs Player Has to Know What the Standard Is

This is where any discussion around what happened with Nylander gets interesting. Even people who supported the Nylander benching kept coming back to the same idea: If it’s accountability, it has to apply across the board.

That doesn’t mean every player should be treated identically. Matthews isn’t a fourth-line winger. Nylander isn’t a penalty killer. Tavares isn’t going to be asked to play exactly the same minutes as a depth forward.

Roles are different. But expectations shouldn’t be. If the team needs a player to backcheck hard, the player needs to backcheck hard. If the situation demands a safe play, make the safe play. If a mistake happens, learn from it. That’s the standard.