Nylander aiming for more ice time: 'It helps my game a lot'

Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander has seen less ice time under new head coach Craig Berube, but he's hoping to turn that around.

"That is a little bit what I've been trying to talk to (Berube) about, to get that ice time back to where it was before," Nylander said Thursday. "I think it helps my game a lot, to do what I want to be able to do out there. Hopefully it's something we can figure out."

Nylander has seen 18:01 minutes of action per game through 10 contests this season, down from 19:55 last campaign.

One of the main reasons is that Nylander has gotten virtually no work on the penalty kill despite Toronto ranking 13th in both penalty minutes (95) and penalty minutes per game (9:30). He averaged one minute of shorthanded ice time per contest last season in his first bit of work with the unit in his career, scoring a team-leading three goals.

In comparison, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews are seeing increased roles on the penalty kill under Berube. Marner has seen his average shorthanded ice time go from 2:04 last year to 2:36 this campaign, while Matthews' has jumped dramatically from 43 seconds to 2:04. The Maple Leafs' penalty kill currently ranks in the middle of the pack with an 80.5% success rate.

Nylander admitted that "of course" he misses his time on the PK.

"PK is fun, it's good to get in the game that way. ... It keeps you going," the 28-year-old Swede explained.

For Berube's part, he said he has "no problem" with Nylander's desire for more ice time.

"I don't focus on ice time so much," the bench boss said. "I mean, I get Willy out there quite a bit, a lot. A lot of key situations, obviously. At the same time, I've said this all along, we want to be a good team. Everybody needs to be involved."

He added: "What I do is I try to get him out there - if deserved - as much as I can."

Berube also noted that he's pleased with Matthews and Marner's work on the penalty kill so far, saying they "understand the system very well."

Nylander is currently playing out the first season of the eight-year, $92-million extension he signed in January. He's put up 10 points and leads the Leafs with six goals this campaign.