<p><a href="https://theleafsnation.com/">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> forward William Nylander had a major role in securing his <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-pacioretty-game-winner-toronto-maple-leafs-advance">team&#8217;s place in the second round</a>, but it almost did not happen due to a lineup mistake.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“It could have been disastrous for Toronto.”<a href="https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FriedgeHNIC</a> and the panel discuss a lineup mistake switching the Nylander brothers, which could have led to William Nylander being removed from the game. <a href="https://t.co/8hGQPu0qTG">pic.twitter.com/8hGQPu0qTG</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1918094244775907452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Sportsnet&#8217;s Elliotte Friedman reported during the first intermission of Game 6 against the Ottawa Senators that the lineup card had Alex Nylander listed instead of William. An official noticed the mistake before the game started, so that allowed the Leafs to insert the correct Nylander in the main roster as was intended. This was made possible by Rule 5.1, which states that the Leafs would also not be penalized for it.</p>
<p>&#8220; Well, they&#8217;re on the sheet there. It&#8217;s like, you know, your normal names are up there every game,&#8221; Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters after the game about what happened. &#8220;But you call guys up, they&#8217;re all on there, and I got confused. So I&#8217;m like, &#8216;What the hell?&#8217;  And so I told the officials, &#8216;It&#8217;s Willie, not Alex.&#8221;</p>
<p>Had the mistake not been caught in time, Nylander would have been kicked out of the game and the Leafs would have been forced to play with only 11 forwards. They would not be assessed a penalty right away, but it would have put them in a massive hole early being without one of their star forwards for a critical game.</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t the first time Berube and the coaching staff nearly had a lineup error prove costly. <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/craig-berube-on-the-starting-lineup-mix-up-vs-blackhawks-these-computers-screw-everything-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Before a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 2</a>, Auston Matthews was accidentally put in the starting lineup when Fraser Minten was intended to be slotted between Steven Lorentz and Nick Robertson. In this instance, they would have been assessed a penalty had it been caught by the officials. Matthews went out to take the draw so the Leafs could abide by the rules before quickly returning to the bench to restore order.</p>
<p>“It’s on the computer. So these computers screw everything up,” Berube said with a laugh about the December 2nd incident. “That’s why I used to write them out, you know, on paper. I’d rather do that.”</p>
<p>Good thing the mistake was caught in time because Nylander ended up having an exceptional performance in a close-out game. He led the Leafs in scoring with three points, including a critical goal early in the second period and an empty-netter to seal the deal.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that the reason Alex was on the roster to begin with was that <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-recall-14-players-marlies-murray-hildeby" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Leafs recently called up</a> 14 players from the Marlies to be part of the reserve team for the remainder of the playoffs. This was because the AHL squad was eliminated from the playoffs by the Cleveland Monsters, and the players brought up are on NHL contracts so they were eligible to be part of the Black Aces squad.</p>
<p>&#8220; I heard about it after the game, but yeah. Luckily, somebody caught that,&#8221; Nylander said.</p>
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<a href="https://theleafsnation.com/">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> forward William Nylander had a major role in securing his <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-pacioretty-game-winner-toronto-maple-leafs-advance">team's place in the second round</a>, but it almost did not happen due to a lineup mistake.

https://twitter.com/sportsnet/status/1918094244775907452?s=46&amp;t=LDl-Gw1vOqGde1WXQ3BnYQ

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported during the first intermission of Game 6 against the Ottawa Senators that the lineup card had Alex Nylander listed instead of William. An official noticed the mistake before the game started, so that allowed the Leafs to insert the correct Nylander in the main roster as was intended. This was made possible by Rule 5.1, which states that the Leafs would also not be penalized for it.

" Well, they're on the sheet there. It's like, you know, your normal names are up there every game," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters after the game about what happened. "But you call guys up, they're all on there, and I got confused. So I'm like, 'What the hell?'  And so I told the officials, 'It's Willie, not Alex."

Had the mistake not been caught in time, Nylander would have been kicked out of the game and the Leafs would have been forced to play with only 11 forwards. They would not be assessed a penalty right away, but it would have put them in a massive hole early being without one of their star forwards for a critical game.

This isn't the first time Berube and the coaching staff nearly had a lineup error prove costly. <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/craig-berube-on-the-starting-lineup-mix-up-vs-blackhawks-these-computers-screw-everything-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Before a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 2</a>, Auston Matthews was accidentally put in the starting lineup when Fraser Minten was intended to be slotted between Steven Lorentz and Nick Robertson. In this instance, they would have been assessed a penalty had it been caught by the officials. Matthews went out to take the draw so the Leafs could abide by the rules before quickly returning to the bench to restore order.

“It’s on the computer. So these computers screw everything up,” Berube said with a laugh about the December 2nd incident. “That’s why I used to write them out, you know, on paper. I’d rather do that.”

Good thing the mistake was caught in time because Nylander ended up having an exceptional performance in a close-out game. He led the Leafs in scoring with three points, including a critical goal early in the second period and an empty-netter to seal the deal.

It's worth noting that the reason Alex was on the roster to begin with was that <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-recall-14-players-marlies-murray-hildeby" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Leafs recently called up</a> 14 players from the Marlies to be part of the reserve team for the remainder of the playoffs. This was because the AHL squad was eliminated from the playoffs by the Cleveland Monsters, and the players brought up are on NHL contracts so they were eligible to be part of the Black Aces squad.

" I heard about it after the game, but yeah. Luckily, somebody caught that," Nylander said.
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William Nylander was nearly ineligible to play in Game 6 due to lineup error

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