Sheldon Keefe has had enough of one of his top paid players, calls him out post game

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Josh tupper
March 27, 2022 (7:30)

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The Maple Leafs have been firmly locked into a divisional playoff spot for the better part of five months now. But with the outstanding play of the Boston Bruins, the Leafs now find themselves sitting in the 1st wild card slot. After a loss tonight to the Montreal Canadiens it appears Sheldon Keefe's patience has run thin with at least one of his players.

To begin the season William Nylander was the best player on the team, and that play even dated back to last year's playoff series. When Nylander wants to be, he can be a dominate force. The only problem? He hasn't wanted to be for the better part of a month.

During his post game press conference Keefe had this to say about Nylander:

It's tough. Defensively, I don't know if we can play much better than that. How we controlled the neutral zone. Not a lot happening, that's a tough one to give up. But to me, that was like the third or fourth play for Will and I thought it was time. Obviously, things have been piling up on that line for a while, so it was overdue.

Keefe on if he's been satisfied with Nylander's play over the last month:

No, not close.

Asked about specifics and what he'd like to see from Nylander to improve:

I'm not going to answer the questions. I don't need to pile on Will here, he knows what makes him great and he knows what he needs to get back to it.

It turns out Nylander felt similar to Keefe's assessment as well:

I had a mistake on the backcheck. I didn't backcheck all the way on Savard, I think that's a big factor (on why they lost). I've got to be there to stop their momentum.

The Leafs are back in action tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers. It will be interesting to see how the team bounces back.