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TRAIKOS: It's time the Leafs traded Nylander for defensive help

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The playoffs have spoken.

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William Nylander should not be playing centre any more. The question is — following a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 5 on Sunday — should he be even be playing for the Maple Leafs, any more?

It’s a question that general manager Kyle Dubas will be asking himself a lot over the next several months, as another failed attempt to win a playoff round gets dissected over and over again.

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Dubas spent the past year firing his head coach, trading Nazem Kadri and turning over almost half the roster. Now, following a best-of-five qualification loss that knocked the Leafs out of the playoffs before the playoffs even began, it’s time to put down the scalpel and get out the hatchet.

It’s time to break up the core. It’s time to trade Nylander.

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Don’t trade him because he was a minus-2 in Game 5. Don’t trade him because he isn’t good enough or because he doesn’t care enough. Trade him because he doesn’t play the right position.

And the position we’re talking about is defence.

If this series taught us anything, it is that speed and skill and offensive creativity take you only so far. The Leafs have a core that includes Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Nylander. But they don’t have a Seth Jones or a Zach Werenski.
They’ll need one if they are going to win a playoff round.

That’s where Nylander comes in.

The only way to get a Seth Jones is by giving up something of value. Dubas is not going to trade Matthews or Marner or even Tavares. But Nylander might be expendable.
This isn’t a criticism of how the 24-year-old played this year. By his standards, this was a breakout year for Nylander. He finished in the top 15 with 31 goals season and was on pace for a career-best 71 points when the regular season was halted.

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In the playoffs, he was better than he had ever been. He scored twice and picked up a pair of assists — half of those came in Game 4, where he kick-started the 3-0 comeback with Toronto’s first goal and a secondary assist that sent the game to overtime.

In Game 5, the coaching staff was so confident in his abilities that Nylander centered the second line with Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen, while Matthews, Marner and Tavares joined forces on the top line.

It didn’t end up working out as planned.

Nylander, who seemed out of position and at times lost on the ice, was late to a defensive assignment in the first period that led to Columbus’ first goal. Shortly after, he forgot what position he was playing when he jumped on to the ice in place of winger Kyle Clifford, which caused the Leafs to take a too-many-men penalty. In the third period, Nylander was caught on another bad change for the Blue Jackets’ second goal.

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He wasn’t the reason why the Leafs lost. But he — along with Matthews, Marner and Tavares — didn’t make up for Toronto’s shortcomings.

Columbus head coach John Tortorella, who said the playoffs are where your legacies are made, had been “anxious to see who’s tall and who shrinks” in a Game 5 that was really a Game 7.

Well, we saw it. The Leafs needed goals. They didn’t get them. Not even one. And in a who-blinks-first defensive battle, they didn’t get the stops either because they are not built that way.

It’s time that that changed. It’s time the Leafs swapped a forward for a defenceman. It’s time the Leafs augmented their offensive skill with someone who is skilled at keeping the puck out of their own net.

It’s what Columbus did. Not long ago, the Blue Jackets traded Ryan Johansen, who was coming off a 71-point season, to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Jones. Five years later, the trade has worked out for a Columbus team that shut out the Leafs twice in a five-game series.

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Maybe Nylander can get the Leafs a Seth Jones or, at the very least, a Josh Manson or Brett Pesce.

Any one of them would have been an upgrade over Tyson Barrie or Cody Ceci, who looked more and more exposed once Jake Muzzin left the series after being injured in Game 2. Both Barrie and Ceci will be gone as free agents in the off-season, leaving the Leafs with a defence corps of Morgan Rielly, Muzzin and a bunch of question marks.

Unless Nylander can play defence in addition to centre, he’s better off helping the team via trade. After all, the Leafs are going to be up against the salary cap next year with Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall requiring raises. And with rookie Nick Robertson showing that he belongs among the top nine forwards on the team — if not the top six — the Leafs have more than enough players who can fill Nylander’s void.

Something has to give. The excuses are over.

After four straight years of failing to win a playoff round, it’s becoming clear that this team isn’t built to win in the post-season. It wasn’t even built to win in the regular season this year, despite Matthews challenging for the Rocket Richard Trophy and Marner, Tavares and Nylander finishing with more points than anyone on Columbus’ roster.

It’s time to make a serious change.

Postmedia News

mtraikos@postmedia.com

twitter.com/Michael_Traikos

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