William Nylander would prefer to spend less time watching hockey.
The Toronto Maple Leafs star said Thursday he’d like his average ice time to go up to levels like last season after it has been pushed down a bit early this season under new coach Craig Berube. He said he’s held discussions with Berube about the topic.
“That is a little bit what I’ve been trying to talk to (Berube) about,” Nylander said. “Get that ice time back to where it was before, I think it helps my game a lot, to do what I want to be able to do out there.”
Nylander has six goals and four assists in 10 games while playing an average of 18:01.
Last season, he had a career-high average of 19:55 and put up a career-best 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists) in 82 games.
Nylander said he’d like to see time on the penalty kill after being taken off that unit this year.
“PK is fun, it’s good to get in the game that way … Of course, I miss PK,” he said.
Berube said he doesn’t mind Nylander coming to him asking for more ice time.
“I don’t focus on ice time so much. I get Willy out there quite a bit, a lot,” he said. “Lot of key situations, obviously. At the same time, I’ve said this all along, we want to be a good team. Everybody needs to be involved. I try to get Willy out there as much as I can.”
The Leafs host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
