Positive sign for struggling Maple Leafs as William Nylander returns to practice

The Toronto Maple Leafs are sinking like a stone in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. After dropping Friday night’s home game against the Vegas Golden Knights by a 6-3 margin, the Maple Leafs have lost five of their last six games.

Craig Berube on Nylander

“We will see where he progresses…we’ll see how he felt, hopefully he can keep getting on the ice here and be ready to go. Can’t give you a timeline on that yet.”

Joshua remains “not close.” https://t.co/BM9YJNJ20y

— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) January 24, 2026

They have a home game scheduled for Sunday afternoon against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche, so another loss seems likely. However, there was a positive development for head coach Craig Berube’s team prior to Toronto’s Saturday practice session. High-scoring winger William Nylander was back on the ice. Nylander has missed the last 4 games with a groin injury, and the team misses his scoring talent and playmaking ability.

Head coach Craig Berube was happy to see Nylander skating again, but could not offer any specifics on when he might return to the Maple Leafs lineup. “We will see where he progresses,” Berube said. “We’ll see how he felt, hopefully he can keep getting on the ice here and be ready to go. Can’t give you a timeline on that yet.”

The Maple Leafs are coming off an emotional game as former Toronto star Mitch Marner played his first game at Scotiabank Arena as a visitor. The visiting Golden Knights came out with fire in the game and scored two goals in the first five minutes to put the Maple Leafs on their heels.

While the Maple Leafs lean on Auston Matthews for much of their scoring, they need the speed and flash of Nylander back in the lineup. It is not expected that he will be in the lineup Sunday against the Avalanche, but he has not been ruled out for that game or for Tuesday’s home game against the streaking Buffalo Sabres.

The post Positive sign for struggling Maple Leafs as William Nylander returns to practice appeared first on ClutchPoints.