NHL analyst Nick Kypreos rips apart Nick Robertson after he seemed to have injured William Nylander

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Graham Montgomery
September 26, 2024 (10:51 PM)

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NHL analyst Nick Kypreos let Nick Robertson hear it today after his play may have injured Leafs star William Nylander.

Toronto Maple Leafs fans will be holding their breath tonight after William Nylander appeared to suffer a potentially serious injury during the first period of their pre-season game against the Montreal Canadiens. The forward was skating back towards his own zone when linemate Nick Robertson attempted to give him a boost by shoving him in the back with his stick. Instead, Nylander immediately lost his balance, and fell to the ice, colliding head-first with a Canadiens player in the process.

Nylander went straight to the locker room after the play and did not return to the bench before the period ended. The Leafs have since revealed that he will not return to the game. However, they did note that this move is precautionary, so perhaps Nylander avoided a worse-case scenario.

Regardless, the move by Robertson can still be seen as reckless and unnecessary. That is exactly the position Nick Kypreos took as he broke the play down while covering the game. He called it 'dumb' and a 'bush move.' He also pointed out that Robertson effectively gave up on the play himself, so instead of just working harder, he tried to get his teammate into position ahead of him.

Whether or not this effects Robertson's standing with the Leafs remains to be seen. Craig Berube has probably already talked to him about it though and we can all be sure he won't be trying this move again any time soon. After all, Nylander is one of the team's most important players so any self-inflicted injuries would be a major cause for concern for the team. It appears as though they got lucky this time, but anything can happen in a fast game like hockey.