The Maple Leafs have two different storylines worth tracking right now, and neither one is exactly business as usual. One is bubbling up in the AHL, where Brendan Brisson has turned a hot start with the Marlies into the league’s scoring lead. The other sits at the NHL level, where William Nylander is still producing, but head coach Jim Hiller wants to see a little more from him when the puck is moving the other way.
Brisson was a big part of the Marlies’ 5-1 win over the Hamilton Hammers, scoring once and adding an assist as Toronto got goals from Matthew Barbolini, Borya Valis, Landon Sim, Reese Johnson, and Brisson. That two-point night pushed him past Laval’s Luke Mittelstadt for the AHL scoring lead.
He’s up to 17 points, with nine goals and eight assists. That puts him first on the Marlies in goals, second on the club in assists, tied for sixth in the league in goals, and tenth in assists. For a player who signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Maple Leafs on September 4, that’s a strong opening stretch.
Brisson’s path to this point has already included plenty of mileage. The Vegas Golden Knights picked him 29th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and he spent four seasons with Henderson, where he put up 102 points in 162 games.
He then played the last two seasons with Hartford. Across his NHL resume, he has nine points in 27 games, with appearances for Vegas and the New York Rangers.
Now the question is whether this production turns into another shot with Toronto. He’s 25, he’s got NHL games on his record, and he’s clearly finding some rhythm offensively.
That doesn’t mean he’s ready to be penciled into the Leafs lineup, but it does give the organization something useful to watch. A player who can keep scoring in the AHL is never a bad thing to have in the pipeline.
Nylander’s case is different. He has 10 goals and 21 points in 17 games this season, and he’s added five points in his last five.
So this isn’t about a scoring drought. It’s about the way he’s being used and the way he’s moving through games.
Nylander has said it’s been a strange season, noting that he’s putting up points but not getting the puck as much as he’s used to. Hiller sees it too.
After Wednesday’s practice, he said he’s accustomed to seeing Nylander carry the puck through the neutral zone, attack defenders wide, and create another scoring chance. Lately, Hiller hasn’t seen as many of those looks.
His answer was for Nylander to spend less time waiting for the puck in the neutral zone and more time coming back into his own zone to become the breakout option. It’s a notable ask, because it shifts some of Nylander’s energy away from pure offense and into the work of helping the team get out cleanly.
That doesn’t mean taking away what makes him dangerous. Nylander is still the kind of player who can flip a game in a hurry, and the Leafs still need him attacking with the puck. But Hiller seems to want a version of him that’s a little more involved in the full flow of the game, not just the finish.
John Tavares is expected to return and join the lineup against Montreal on Saturday, which could help Nylander by putting another experienced offensive piece back in the mix.
For Toronto, both situations matter in different ways. Brisson’s rise gives the organization another forward worth monitoring, and Nylander’s adjustment is about getting more from one of the team’s best players.
One is about depth and opportunity. The other is about balance.
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