Does William Nylander Want to Play in Toronto Anymore?

When William Nylander signed his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he wanted to be certain that he’d get to stay in Toronto for a long time. Since then, a lot has happened. Nylander has become the whipping boy for all things wrong with the Maple Leafs. 

One reader recently said that – because of his poor treatment by fans – there was no way Nylander would want to stay in Toronto now. The reader believed that Nylander would leave the Maple Leafs as soon as his present contract was over. 

It’s a good question. It brings up the history of Toronto fans making it tough on players until they wanted to get out of town. It leads to the question: “Has William Nylander changed his mind about staying in Toronto?”

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Has William Nylander Changed His Mind About Toronto?

I learned something last week while researching the Kyle Dubas and Nylander myth fans held that Dubas had told Nylander he would never trade him while he remained the general manager. Nylander was worried, after his lengthy holdout, that the team would sign him and then immediately flip him in a trade. 

That fear seemed to be the genesis of the entire conversation about whether Dubas had promised Nylander he wouldn’t trade him while he was a general manager. It shows just how much Nylander wanted to stay in Toronto – at least at the time.

That made me wonder if, over the past several seasons, Nylander had changed his mind. If he were to do it all over again, would he still want to stay in Toronto?

Maple Leafs Fans Can Play Nasty

Central to this consideration is that the behavior of Maple Leafs’ fans has “encouraged” some players to leave. There’s no denying that some Maple Leafs’ fans can be nasty. They’ve done it before to the point that recent players such as Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner desired to leave Toronto.

These two were not the first players to be booed out of town. Before them, the list included Dion Phaneuf, Aki Berg, and Larry Murphy. In fact, one reader of a post I wrote on The Hockey Writers site commented that he was happy to see Gardiner leave town. He noted, “garbage in, garbage out.”

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These Days It’s Nylander Taking the Heat: Is There an Impact?

These days, Nylander’s presence on the team is polarizing for fans. He’s constantly “disparaged and vilified” (as THW reader Hugh Allan put it). Allan goes on to say that Nylander has become “the whipping boy for everything that is wrong with the Leafs. Why would he want to sign an extension with the Leafs next summer only to remain in Toronto for the opportunity to absorb more of the same?” 

The question of whether Nylander would do it all again the way he did is a great question. However, if it were asked to him directly, it’s a question that would never generate a trustworthy answer. 

What If Nylander Were Asked Directly? Then What?

Suppose a media writer asked Nylander this question: “William, we know you wanted to stay in Toronto after your last contract. However, after the fans have treated you poorly and have questioned your heart, desire, and willingness to take a hit to make a play, do you still want to stay with the Maple Leafs?”

If he were smart, Nylander would respond that, of course, he’d like to stay. He might even add that he’s trying to improve his game to be more valuable to the team. But one would never know if that answer were true.

Any hockey player in that situation would recognize the wisdom of avoiding the question if the answer were that he wanted to leave. He’d know that to admit he felt he was treated badly and would be leaving when his contract was over would be a no-win situation. 

First, the player would be labeled a whiner. Second, the player would become a bigger target. Matthew Tkachuk (in Calgary) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (in Winnipeg) are recent examples of how players might be treated by fans of the team they’ve played with.

For All These Reasons, I’m Hoping Nylander Scores 100 Points

It’s a tough situation Nylander is in. We can’t know what’s going on in his mind, but I know what would be going on in mine.

For these reasons, I’d love to see him become a point-a-game player and even score 100 points. He’s not my favorite player on the team, but I love his offensive play and speed through the neutral zone. He’s a good player.

It would seem a shame if he now wanted to leave the team.

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