The trade deadline is when things change in the NHL. It's a great barrier point to work with: not only does it pretty much set playoff rosters, but it has an impact on non-playoff teams, too, as they're limited to four non-emergency recalls for the rest of the season.
So you wanted to reward the kids in your system and give them all a taste of NHL action? Too bad - the NHL doesn't want you to, so unless your entire team ends up injured, you have to pick and choose wisely.
The Leafs are kind of in that situation where everyone has ended up injured, anyway, but that hasn't stopped them from having to differentiate between who's an emergency recall and who's a regular one. William Nylander is a regular recall, though: one of the four possible. And now that he's played 10 games, the first year of his entry level contract has been burned: as the Leafs were intending to do.
Fortunately, Nylander is justifying that decision.
Leafs leading scorers since the trade deadline (12 games):
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 22, 2016
Nylander 7 pts
Gardiner 7 pts
Greening 6 pts
Four others tied at five.
Granted, Nylander's three-point game against the Flames last night helped with that, but if scoring three points against bad teams was so easy, why isn't everyone else on the Leafs doing it?
Via Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.:
William Nylander recorded three points with one goal and two assists in the Maple Leafs' 5-2 win over the Flames on Monday, after tallying two points (one goal and one assist) in Toronto's victory against Buffalo on Saturday. The 19-year-old Nylander (who will turn 20 on May 1) is the youngest Maple Leafs player to score five points over a two-game span since Wendel Clark on Nov. 17-20, 1985. Clark was less than a month past his 19th birthday at the time.
The start to Nylander's NHL career is going rather well.