After Monday’s practice, Craig Berube discussed Nylander’s apology for yesterday’s incident, Jacob Quillan’s limited action against Colorado, and the message to the team amid the recent struggles.
William Nylander apologized for what happened on camera yesterday and mentioned he was frustrated. How does the organization deal with him on the issue?
Berube: He made a mistake. He owned up to it. Things happen. People make mistakes. Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. It happens. I mean, come on. He knows it’s wrong, and he owned up to it.
He wants to play. He wants to be here helping the team, for sure. Willy has gone a long time in his career without missing games. It has been different this year for him. It is something new that is going through. It’s hard for a player who wants to be out there; he came back, and he reinjured it again pretty quickly. It is frustrating. We want him out here, too, and he wants to be playing. He is doing everything he can to get back.
Leafs players in the press box realized they were on the tv broadcast and William Nylander flipped the bird? 😭 pic.twitter.com/be70R2GuX0
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 25, 2026
How hard has it been to fill the void without Nylander?
Berube: Well, you don’t fill that void. Your team has to fill the void. No one player is going to come in and be William Nylander. That is not realistic.
How important is it to get Nylander into a game or two before the Olympics? Is that part of the thinking?
Berube: Well, the only thing we are thinking of is helping our team. I get the Olympics are coming, and it is important to his country and to the players, but we are looking at getting him back in as quickly as we can to help our team.
What did you want to accomplish in today’s practice? It was an unexpected, non-traditional practice for you.
Berube: Well, we’d normally have the outdoor practice, but the weather and everything ruined all of that. It is unfortunate. It is a good deal for the fans and all of the support that we get from the Leafs fan base. But it is what it is.
Today, coming into practice, it was just about routes and positioning with our puck play.
What have you seen from Jacob Quillan so far, and what do you want to see out of him?
Berube: He came in last night against a very tough opponent. I thought he handled himself fine. He didn’t play a whole lot, obviously. We got down in the game. He just has to keep doing what he’s doing going forward when he gets another opportunity. I thought he used his speed well, and it was a fast game against Colorado. He has good speed, and he was physical on some plays.
That’s all. Just keep working on his game.
How do you combat the mental grind part of the condensed schedule?
Berube: Well, obviously, rest is important. We tried to rest our guys as much as possible here. We haven’t had much practice time. I thought it was a good thing to get out here and work on some things, as well as some meetings.
Again, our homestand hasn’t been very good since we’ve gotten home here. We have to move on from it and focus on tomorrow’s game. The focus was on tomorrow, the Buffalo Sabres, and narrowing our focus. Let’s have a good first period, let’s make good plays, let’s be a little more patient in our game, and let’s not give up early goals in the game as best we can.
Are the slow starts against good teams concerning of late?
Berube: I don’t think it’s slow starts against good teams. I didn’t think we started slowly against Vegas. I didn’t think we started slowly last night. The first six or seven minutes were fine, but you make a couple of mistakes, and they’re in the back of the net. That kind of drained our energy a little bit. That is what I saw. I don’t see us having slow starts against good teams.
What message did you get from the team’s leaders in your meeting?
Berube: It is tough, right? We come home for this home stretch, and other than the Detroit game, we were down by two or three in the first period. That is a mental grind on everybody, including them. But we have to overcome it. We have to fight through it and do a better job in the first period of limiting mistakes, playing a simpler game, and being a little more patient.
How much do you rely on the leaders to get our message through to the rest of the team?
Berube: For sure, I do, and they do a good job of it. They say the right things, and they know what is going on. We are all in this together.
How much could another practice help Anthony Stolarz get up to speed?
Berube: It does, for sure. Having a practice and seeing the shot volume he saw today in practice is good for him. He needs more of it.
Practice Lines – Jan. 26
Lines at Leafs practice
McMann – Matthews – Domi
Maccelli – Tavares – Knies
Cowan – Roy – Robertson
Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok
QuillanMcCabe – Ekman-Larsson
Rielly – Carlo
Benoit – Stecher
Thrun – MyersStolarz
WollHost Sabres Tuesday @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/5Akwhxmvwd
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 26, 2026
