Did the Maple Leafs misjudge the timing of William Nylander's return?

With the first game between Toronto and Vegas since Mitch Marner was traded earlier this offseason, all eyes were on how both sides would deal with the pressure and to say it was exciting could be an understatement.

In a game that saw several lead changes, the Maple Leafs fell 6-5 in OT but not only that, they lost William Nylander to one of the more bizarre injuries of the season.

After celebrating a goal, Nylander seemed to trip himself up over his own feet and looked to have tweaked something, later going to the locker room and not returning.

Given that Nylander just returned from an injury only a week ago, this is a frustrating scenario but maybe the team has to look in the mirror and see how much blame they need to accept.

Nylander had been 'day-to-day' for two weeks, then finally made his way back and looked healthy. But it wasn't like he was shoved into the boards, slashed, or blocked a hard shot.

He was doing something that really shouldn't be an issue, and a simple trip over his own feet could show that his injury wasn't exactly 100%. According to TSN's Mike Johnson during the broadcast, Nylander had an ankle sprain which may very well have been aggravated.

This was later confirmed by Luke Fox, as he mentioned Nylander did indeed muck up his previous ankle injury.

Nylander has been the shining star for the Maple Leafs this season and leads the team with 48 points in 37 games (17 goals, 31 assists) and showing that even without Mitch Marner the team can be just as dangerous.

If Nylander is expected to miss more than one game it would set him and the Maple Leafs right back to where they were previous. But that might not be a bad thing; Toronto went on a tear without Nylander and very well could do so again.

Though it can't be ignored that regardless of his defensive miscues at times, Nylander makes the team better overall.

All the fans and team can hope now is that this was merely something that's making Nylander uncomfortable and not something that will take him out for awhile -- potentially affecting his Olympic standing too.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
John Tavares' production is forcing the Maple Leafs to revisit a former trade target