William Nylander was missing from Sweden’s practice today, and Leafs fans noticed
![[Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Sweden forward William Nylander (88) plays the puck against Team Canada in overtime during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/641025.webp "[Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Sweden forward William Nylander (88) plays the puck against Team Canada in overtime during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.")
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs held their breath this morning when William Nylander was nowhere to be found as Sweden took on the ice in Milan.
While the Olympics are in full swing, the ice hockey portion has yet to start although it's one on the most anticipated events in the entirety of the Games.
Maple Leafs fans will get a chance to see their representatives in action, although William Nylander was nowhere to be found on Tuesday morning.
Insider Pierre Lebrun was the first to report that the star winger wasn’t on the ice with his teammates for the morning skate.
We’ve seen this movie before and it usually ends with a long stint on the injury reserve. It also feels like perhaps the ghost of Craig Berube followed Nylander as it was then reported by Mark Masters of TSN that it was a 'maintenance day' -- a phrase Leafs fans know all too well:
It a maintenance thing. He’s done two full practices with us & felt after yesterday a bit sore so just give him an extra day. We’ll see for tomorrow if he’s ready to go or it’s going to be a pretty late decision.
It's a short tournament thankfully, so we just want to make sure he's as ready as can be for what's ahead.
It's a short tournament thankfully, so we just want to make sure he's as ready as can be for what's ahead.
According to fellow Swede and Leafs teammate Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Nylander is resting up and it might just be a minor issue but that nagging lower-body injury from January is still lurking in the shadows like a bad memory.
Sweden plays their first game of the tournament on Wednesday against Italy at 3:10 PM ET, so there is still lots of time for the forward to rest and heal up before game-time.
But it does bring up an interesting note, as Elliotte Friedman reported earlier that some players may have been crawling to the finish line to get to the Olympics, and if Nylander is one of those players then a bad injury here might shut him down for the tournament or the season.
If that's the case then the Maple Leafs need to be in sell mode ASAP because their hopes for making the playoffs drop even more dramatically than they already have and Brad Treliving has to be holding his breath that it's nothing critical.
Nylander has been a bright spot for the Maple Leafs this season, posting 52 points in 40 games thus far (18 goals, 34 assists) although he's missed a fair chunk of the season with multiple injuries.
We will keep you updated on any new information regarding Nylander, but for fans of both Team Sweden and Toronto, let's just hope it's nothing that'll keep him off the ice for potentially the rest of the year.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Auston Matthews got asked about hanging out with William Nylander, his answer said plenty
Auston Matthews got asked about hanging out with William Nylander, his answer said plenty
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 10|903 ANSWERS William Nylander was missing from Sweden’s practice today, and Leafs fans noticed Do you believe William Nylander will play hurt during the Olympics? | ||
| Yes | 705 | 78.1 % |
| No | 198 | 21.9 % |
| List of polls | ||