Maple Leafs HC Craig Berube makes his thoughts crystal clear on slumping William Nylander

The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes but are hoping that one of their top players can break out of his prolonged scoring slump.

Forward William Nylander, who already has 23 goals this season, has gone pointless in his last four games and also hasn't scored a goal since tallying twice in Toronto's 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders on December 21st.

Head coach Craig Berube, a former player himself, believes that Nylander is suffering from a lack of confidence.

"I talked to Willy today," Berube said. "Sometimes, skilled players and scorers lose their confidence a little bit. That is what I see right now with Willy: a little bit of a lack of confidence.

"For me, it is talking to him about working his way out of the situation. You can’t just [resort] to, 'Well, I need a break.' Work your way out of it. Work for your breaks.

"That is the biggest thing for me: getting him back to work a little bit more, and being more tenacious on pucks and puck battles," he continued. "When he was scoring a lot, his (won) puck battles were extremely high, and he was playing with more pace. He is not playing with the same pace right now."

Despite his scoring slump, Nylander is second overall in points behind Mitch Marner.

If he's able to resume his usual scoring ways, it would go a long way toward the success of the Leafs, currently the leaders in the Atlantic Division.

The Toronto Maple Leafs re-signed William Nylander to a massive contract extension last season

The Maple Leafs decided that Nylander was going to be a key part of their future when they signed him to an eight-year extension worth $92 million that carries a cap hit of $11.5 million.

Nylander is 1/4 of Toronto's "Core 4" which includes John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews.

And while the Leafs also recently re-signed Matthews to a multi-year extension, both Marner and Tavares are set to become unrestricted free agents when the calendar turns to July this summer.

Both players have voiced their desire to remain members of the team, though that decision could be out of their hands depending on the salary cap.