The Toronto Marlies will be without forward William Nylander when they host the Albany Devils in Game 1 of their second-round matchup on Wednesday.
The Swede has been absent from practice since Monday and was kept off the ice towards the end of the regular season due to not feeling well, but head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters Monday that the two instances are unrelated.
Nylander, who turned 20 years old on Sunday, did play in all three of the Marlies’ first-round contests against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers registering a goal and an assist.
While with the Marlies this season, he was arguably their best player, scoring 18 goals and 47 points in 38 games. He missed a significant amount of time after suffering a concussion at the world juniors, followed by a bout with appendicitis.
Toronto will already be without their captain Andrew Campbell for the entire series, as the defenceman is dealing with a lower-body injury.
They will be in tough against a very good Devils team that is loaded with young talent.
Game 1 starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on Rogers TV.
