The Toronto Maple Leafs were successful earlier this month without William Nylander in the lineup, and based on the news revealed from head coach Craig Berube on Monday morning prior to the club’s meeting with the Minnesota Wild, the Leafs may have to hope they can continue to pile up points without their leading scorer for the next little while.
“(It’s a) lower-body/groin (injury), I don’t know how long the timeline will be for him,” Berube said. “When he feels good enough to get on the ice, and he goes out there and skates and it feels good, then I expect him to be back fairly quick then. But until then, I’m not sure when he’s going to be on the ice.”
Nylander was re-injured in the 6-5 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, and his lingering issues put his status for the Leafs remaining nine games before the Olympic break, if not for the game in Milano Cortina that begin on February 11th in question. The Leafs recalled center Jacob Quillan from the AHL Toronto Marlies.
Berube also indicated that the injury that caused winger Matthew Knies to miss time earlier in the season has been lingering and continues to hamper the 23-year-old to the point that he will be a game-time decision against the Wild.
“He’s still dealing with the same thing,” Berube said. “It’s obviously bothering him a lot for quite some time. It hasn’t gotten really much better, other than when he gets some breaks, Christmas time, and stuff, he comes back, and it feels better, but it’s an ongoing issue.”
Berube indicated that he may move Scott Laughton up in the lineup to play wing with potentially a pair of top-six wingers out against the Wild, but he also indicated that other players (likely Easton Cowan or Nick Robertson) could also be elevated in the lineup. The Wild snapped a three-game losing skid in Buffalo on Saturday, winning 5-4 in overtime on a Mats Zuccarello goal. Minnesota was short-handed on Saturday, without top forwards Matthew Boldy, Marcus Johansson, and Joel Eriksson-Ek.
All three, along with veteran defensemen Jonas Brodin and former Leaf Zach Bogosian, were absent from the Wild’s morning skate, per Michael Russo from the Athletic. Filip Gustavsson played on Saturday, so it is likely that rookie Jesper Wallstedt (12-4-4, 2.64 GAA, .916 save %) will go for Minnesota.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (24-16-8 – 56 POINTS)
vs.
MINNESOTA WILD (27-13-9 – 63 POINTS)
JANUARY 19, 2026 ▪ 7:30 PM EST ▪ SCOTIABANK ARENA (TORONTO, ON)
TV: PRIME VIDEO ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590
MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY vs. MINNESOTA WILD
| All-Time Record: | 17-12-0-3 (32 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 11-6-0-0 (17 Games) |
| 2024-25: | 0-1-1 |
| Last Five: | 3-1-1 |
| Last 10: | 7-1-2 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | October 25, 2000 (Toronto 6 vs. Minnesota 1) |
| All-Time Record: | 17-12-0-3 (32 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 11-6-0-0 (17 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 6-6-0-3 (15 Games) |
| Last Home Win vs. Opponent: | October 14, 2023 (Toronto 7 vs. Minnesota 4) |
MAPLE LEAFS / WILD – 2025-26 TEAM STATS
| TORONTO | MINNESOTA | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.38 (6th-T) | 3.10 (17th-T) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 3.27 (23rd-T) | 2.80 (7th) |
| Power Play %: | 16.9 (23rd) | 22.4 (11th) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 84.3 (3rd) | 76.7 (27th) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 27.0 (22nd) | 28.8 (12th) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 31.4 (32nd) | 29.6 (25th-T) |
| Faceoff %: | 56.5 (1st) | 46.7 (30th) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
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