'Work Your Way Out': Maple Leafs' Craig Berube Offers William Nylander Advice On Snapping Season-Long Offensive Slump

Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is in a scoring rut.

Through his first 36 games this year, the forward scored 23 goals and 18 assists for 41 points — a 93-point pace through an 82-game season. However, in Nylander's last six games, he's only been able to tally just two assists: his worst stretch this season.

Nylander has averaged 19:05 of ice time through that span, 32 seconds less than his season average. He's also been a minus-five through his last six games and hasn't scored since Toronto's 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Dec. 21: nine games ago.

The 28-year-old didn't register a shot in the Maple Leafs' 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, something that's only happened four times through 42 games.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said he's spoken to Nylander about his lack of scoring and believes it's due to a dipping confidence in his game.

"I think sometimes skilled players, scorers, lose their confidence a little bit. And that's what I see right now with Willy. A little bit of a lack of confidence. And for me, it's talking to him about just working his way out of the situation," Berube said on Thursday morning.

"You can't just relate to, 'Well, I need a break.' Work your way out, get your breaks, work for your breaks. That's the biggest thing for me is just getting him back to work a little bit more. And being more tenacious on pucks and puck battles and things like that."

Related: William Nylander Earns NHL Second Star Honors After Dominant Week for Maple Leafs

Nylander's longest goal drought came during the 2017-18 season when he went without a goal for 13 games. A similar situation occurred at the tail-end of last season when he couldn't find the back of the net for 11 straight games.

An NHL season is typically filled with ups and downs, good times, and, not-so-good times. It's typical for a player to get caught in a rut sometimes and remain there for a while. But it's pretty rare for a player of Nylander's caliber, who can change the game, whenever he wants.

Related: 'The Iron Lung': Maple Leafs' William Nylander Near 5-Minute Shift Explained In Club's Loss To Jets

When a stretch like this does occur, though, others, like Berube, try to assist the player and get them back to their scoring ways.

"When he was scoring a lot, his puck battles were extremely high, and he's playing with more pace," the head coach said. "He's just kind of, he's not playing with the same pace right now."

Toronto is playing the final game of their mentors trip on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes. It would be great for Nylander — and the rest of the team — if he could break out of the goal-scoring slump to cap off the trip.

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