Maple Leafs News: William Nylander Misses Practice; Game 1 Status Unknown

In a surprising turn of events, 40-goal man William Nylander was absent from Toronto Maple Leafs practice on Friday, just one day ahead of the start of their first round series with the Boston Bruins.

But head coach Sheldon Keefe was very coy about Nylander's whereabouts, and his status.

Sheldon Keefe says William Nylander and Bobby McMann were kept off the ice and are “possibilities” but also “Tree’s (Leafs GM Brad Treliving) made it clear to me there’s not going to be daily injury updates”
— David Alter (@dalter) April 19, 2024

Keefe said that both Nylander and forward Bobby McMann (who was injured last weekend) are "possibilities" for Game 1 on Saturday night, not exactly the ringing endorsement that Leafs fans would like to hear. But Keefe says don't expect much more information from him going forward:

“Tree’s (Leafs GM Brad Treliving) made it clear to me there’s not going to be daily injury updates."

Even Nylander's teammates seem to be in the dark about what's up with Willie.

Calle Jarnkrok on Nylander:

"It’s tough to replace Willy. I don’t even know what’s going on with him. Hopefully he can play, but I guess we’ll have to wait & see tomorrow."
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 19, 2024

Calle Jarnkrok, who's been dealing with his own injury issues, said after practice, "It’s tough to replace Willy. I don’t even know what’s going on with him. Hopefully he can play, but I guess we’ll have to wait & see tomorrow."

Losing Nylander, of course, would be a huge blow to the Leafs' chances of upsetting the Boston Bruins — a team that has haunted them in the first round of the playoffs over the last decade.

Nylander posted his second consecutive 40-goal season this year, to go along with 58 assists for a career-high 98 points in 82 games.