William Nylander wants to stay in Toronto… but on one condition

Marc-Olivier Cook
William Nylander wants to stay in Toronto… but on one condition
Credit: Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The Leafs will have some decisions to make this summer.

What will they do? Will management decide to trade some players in order to acquire prospects and draft picks for the coming years?

Before all that, the team needs to find a new GM…

The names of William Nylander and Auston Matthews are sure to spark conversation, and that's no secret. Matthews is nearing the end of his contract… and Nylander is one of the players with significant value on the market.

But the Swede would like to stay in Toronto… on one condition.

He doesn't want the team to be in a rebuilding phase because he wants to win the Stanley Cup. So, if the Leafs want to rebuild… Nylander will likely ask to leave.

Matthews' contract, meanwhile, expires at the end of the 2027–28 season.

And as Pierre LeBrun mentioned in a segment on RDS, the Leafs' captain must decide what he wants for the coming years. Does he see things the same way as William Nylander?

Would he want to be part of a rebuild?

According to LeBrun, Matthews hasn't decided yet what he wants to do… 

At the end of the day, if Auston Matthews wants to be traded, that changes everything […] The decision by #34 in Toronto is very, very important in all of this. – Pierre LeBrun

All this to say that there's a big dark cloud hanging over the Leafs right now… and that there are a lot of questions to ask about what comes next.

There's uncertainty, at the very least. It's hard to predict what will happen in Toronto over the next few months, but one thing is certain: things could get shake-up if the club decides to take a long-term view.


In a nutshell

– I like that.

– Note to self.

– For those interested.

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