Kasperi Kapanen might make Nylander a ghost

Mike Babcock has avoided commentary on the William Nylander contract dispute, leaving it to general manager Kyle Dubas and the player to work out.

But his line switch on Sunday will put the winger’s absence in a new light and who knows, perhaps speed up a resolution. After watching Tyler Ennis do his best Nylander impression on the right side with Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau, providing everything but size and finish, Babcock saw the Maple Leafs’ painfully slow start to the Chicago game as the ideal time to get Kasperi Kapanen into that spot. Many think Kapanen was being wasted on the fourth ‘Nordic Combined’ line with Par Lindholm and Andreas Johnsson, as those two are a step behind him offensively.

After Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen stumbled on a breakout that made it 2-0 Chicago in the first period, they came back on the next shift, Matthews with a long bomb breakaway pass to the fleet Kapanen to get the Leafs on the board. They traded roles less than a minute later on the tying goal and were out again when Matthews gave the Leafs a brief lead with 1:02 to play in regulation.

Their efforts were over-shadowed by John Tavares’ hat trick in the 7-6 overtime Madness on Madison, but Babcock’s lineup decision here Tuesday is clear. His praise of Kapanen come with a proviso, however, to use his bigger body and model his game more like the bulldozing Zach Hyman does for Tavares and Mitch Marner.

But if those top six forwards keep rolling, how much will the club miss Nylander moving ahead?

Don’t expect Nylander and his agents to cave and for him to grab the next plane from Stockholm, but with 13 goals in three games, the Leafs would not seem to be in a hurry to close the rumoured $2 million US gap per year in the talks for a long-term deal. Babcock’s attention now is on defensive breakdowns.

Kapanen, who has not griped about extended periods with the fourth-liners that goes back to last season, has some cache with the coach, proving himself a good playoff performer and now taking on some penalty-killing duties. He’s ready for his close-up.

“There’s always room to improve and I look forward to that,” Kapanen said after Sunday’s game, in which he tied Tavares with seven shots on net in 15 minutes of ice time. “I want to try and do better for the next game.”

Like the Hawks, Dallas has won its first two while giving up just one goal, a real road test for Toronto which began a four-game swing on the weekend. All three of the Leafs lines will find it heavy going on Tuesday. Ennis ended Sunday with Lindholm and Johnsson, in the sort of role that was envisioned for the 5-foot-8 forward before the Nylander talks went south.

Matthews, who had four points in less than 17 minutes on Sunday, has been highly complimentary of Ennis since camp, but Kapanen's arrival changes the line dynamic for the better.

“He brings a lot of speed,” Matthews said. “You saw that on the first goal, and the one he fed me, it was an unbelievable pass.

“I don’t think a lot of guys can skate like he does up and down the rink. You have a guy like that out there, it creates quite a bit of space and he has a good shot to finish it off. We meshed pretty well tonight.”

HYMAN THE ‘HORSE’ OF THE TAVARES LINE

He’s a horse with no name no longer.

Both hat trick man John Tavares and Leafs coach Mike Babcock gave much of the credit for Sunday’s result in Chicago to the on-going hustle of left winger Zach Hyman, who set the tone for snipers Tavares and linemate Mitch Marner.

“Zach can’t get anyone to even talk about him,”

Babcock noted of Hyman’s low profile in the media. “But why does that line play in the offensive zone all the time? Because he keeps going to go get it, go get it, go get it. You look around the league at how many guys can skate like that and protect the puck like that. He’s heavy. We are fortunate to have him.”

Tavares agreed Hyman was “a horse” among many Leafs who made contributions Sunday, even if a few detracted on a night the Leafs gave up six. Defenceman Morgan Rielly had the eventual winner at 19 seconds of overtime, part of four goals in the final 1:43, two by each club.
“Mitch and John were great, but it’s Hyman who really drives that line in terms of puck possession,” Rielly said. “Then John and Mitch can find each other.”
While the stars were being interviewed, Hyman was looking at the mess of a game sheet as the Leafs departed for Dallas.

“Four goals, and crazy goals, too. You don’t see 7-6 games too often.” Hyman said before flipping the praise back to Tavares.

“John can put the puck in and you saw the different types of goals he can score. One was a tip, one was coming down off a rebound, one was top shelf from the top of the circle. He does all those little things, but he’s also strong defensively.”