William Nylander has yet to win a game as a North American professional, but his coach has still been impressed with the first-round pick’s skill set.
“It’s a learning curve for him. He’s definitely shown some flashes in his speed and his puck-handling ability, and he’s got good vision,” Toronto Marlies head coach Gord Dineen told Brady & Walker on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Monday. “I would’ve liked to see our team play better around him, to sort of insulate him more.”
As the American Hockey League breaks for its all-star game, Dineen provided his assessment on Nylander plus fellow Maple Leafs prospects forward Connor Brown, and defenceman Matt Finn.
LISTEN: Dineen speaks on prospects Nylander, Brown and Finn
Dineen said Nylander had a better game Friday than he did Saturday against the Hamilton Bulldogs, but was held pointless in his debut weekend. Both games of the home-and-home were victories for rival Bulldogs.
The Marlies coach threw a bone of hope to Leafs Nation in his critique of 21-year-old Brown. The Toronto winger scored 128 points with the Eerie Otters last season but did so in the shadow of teammate Connor McDavid. This season, his first as a pro, Brown has 11 goals and 20 assists in 41 games for the Marlies — good enough to be named to the AHL All-Star Game.
“He’s been under the radar. Even for me — I’ll be honest with you — I thought it was going to be a real tough, tough adjustment for him coming to pro hockey. And he’s led our team in scoring basically all year,” Dineen said. “He kills penalties. Even when he doesn’t have the puck, he’s hard on opposing players. He’s constantly dogging it and going after that loose puck. He’s a really determined young man. So for a guy like him, there’s no limits on what he can accomplish.”
