William Nylander is arguably the most explosive scorer at the 4 Nations Face-Off and his countrymen are expecting the Toronto Maple Leafs star to take his game to another level.
Nylander and Team Sweden lost 4-3 to Team Canada in an overtime thriller, where fellow Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner notched the game-winner off a terrific individual rush. It wasn’t the best start to the tournament from Nylander, who committed a key turnover, registering two shots and zero points, and there’s an expectation for him to raise his level ahead of a pivotal contest against Team Finland on Saturday.
“He has one more step in him, definitely,” Team Sweden head coach Sam Hallam said via TSN’s Mark Masters. “I think for a lot of our guys, we grew as a team, as a group, but we still think that we have one more step to take here.”
Nylander ranks second in the NHL with 33 goals this season, leading all entrants at the 4 Nations Face-Off — Leon Draisaitl and Germany were excluded due to the narrow permutations of the event. He’s been elite off the rush, and he could cause havoc against a Finland squad that is undermanned on the blue line, due to a host of injuries.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Sweden forward Filip Forsberg said of Nylander. “It was a few shifts together with me and him and (Elias Pettersson) and if somebody would have told me I was playing with those guys a couple years ago I’d be very happy. I just got to try and be strong on the puck, get them the opportunity with time, and then try to get open.”
Nylander is arguably the focal point of Sweden’s offence, he’s a one-man chance creation machine, and he’ll be counted upon to be more productive in a pivotal contest Saturday. It’s not unreasonable for Sweden to ask for more, currently sitting in third place after one game, with a chance to move into second place, if Team USA defeats Team Canada in regulation during Saturday’s marquee.
We get to view Nylander on a daily basis as one of the NHL’s most dynamic players, and he’s excelled on the international stage before. Now we’ll get to see if he elevates his game on Saturday, with Hallam keeping a close eye on his star winger.
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