With all the positive press surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs’ surprising resurgence this season, led by the strongest pack of rookies on a single team in years, it seems like Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews have been stealing most of the headlines.

But right behind those two is fellow rookie William Nylander, who has produced at a similar rate to the other guys while being bounced around the lineup and facing significantly more criticism from media and the coaching staff.

The questions dogging Nylander aren’t about skill, but about effort level, which is usually a criticism that is applied to a particular style of player who makes the game look effortless. But with that said, let’s not pretend that Mike Babcock is some random guy, he knows what he’s talking about, and his pushing of Nylander has had a positive impact.

In the first half of the season, essentially until the end of 2016, Nylander was producing just 1.24 points per 60 minutes at five-on-five, and 0.69 primary points per 60. In the new year, Nylander’s production has jumped to 2.34 points per 60 minutes, and 1.46 primary points per 60 minutes at five-on-five.

That’s a staggering improvement offensively, so the question is how much has changed in Nylander’s game to create that disparity?

When it comes to shooting, Nylander relies more on his skill to get the job done than most scorers, producing fewer scoring chances than his teammates on average, and not worrying too much about getting into better shooting position. This has led to observations that he’s among the best in the NHL at shooting from his strong side with a bad angle, but it may also be a reason why his coaches think he doesn’t work hard enough.

Getting into strong scoring position is difficult work; it takes effort to not just get lost in traffic but to break free of checkers. If Nylander prefers to not worry about doing that, it makes sense that his coaches get a little frustrated with him since his shot is so lethal, that bit of extra effort could turn him into a great goal scorer.

With that said, in 2017 he has worked to get better opportunities, and shot more often overall at even strength, leading to more goals.

In terms of playmaking, Nylander is still a better than average setup man in passing to the slot, but he has shifted his focus more to attacking off the rush, using his other elite skill set in gaining the zone to create more dangerous opportunities for his teammates.

When it comes to scoring chance generation, he’s a bit down from earlier in the year, but with more of his chances coming off the rush, the difference hasn’t been as big of a deal as the upgrade in the quality of the chances he’s creating.

The biggest improvement Nylander has seen from the beginning of the year has been in passive offence; the kinds of plays that may not get you points, but create more opportunity for your linemates. Entering the zone with control might be Nylander’s biggest standout skill, and adding an improvement in loose puck recoveries to keep plays alive has led to more zone time and better chances.

With all this said, the changes in Nylander’s game aren’t severe enough to account for his doubling up in point production, the fact is he was pretty unlucky early in the year, and has been benefiting from a bit of regression. He is certainly playing a bit better, and that’s something the coaching staff and Nylander himself should take pride in, but like the struggles early didn’t last, this hot streak won’t either.

The fact is Nylander has been extremely good from the beginning, and as usual, taking the longview gives you a better understanding of the player than any hot or cold streak.