NEW YORK — “This is what we paid for, yeah.”



Kyle Dubas was chuckling.



It was Dec. 2 and William Nylander — one year after the end of a months-long contract dispute — was ripping it up for the Leafs, on pace for career highs in goals and assists. The Maple Leafs general manager was happy.



Nylander went quiet after that, though.



The 23-year-old stopped scoring, stopped producing points of any kind, stopped looking like the more engaged, sometimes dominant force he was for the better part of two months to start the season.



He met with Sheldon Keefe before the Leafs played the Rangers on Friday night.



“He didn’t feel like he had a great trip out west in particular,” Keefe said after the game, referring to the Leafs’ recent three-game swing through western Canada, which included a season-low 14 minutes for Nylander in Edmonton. “He said he just didn’t feel good,...