The Toronto Maple Leafs will do their damnedest to never let the audio see the light of day, but NHL insider Chris Johnston notes that William Nylander was wearing a mic the night he returned to the Leafs lineup for Game 4 versus the Boston Bruins. It just so happened to be the same game that footage of Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews were arguing on the bench in a 3-1 loss.
Speaking about the Maple Leafs’ playoff woes on Johnston’s podcast, he noted, “The interesting part about that bickering Julian, is that William Nylander was wearing a microphone on this night.” He added,
“I think it’s fair to assume given the sensitivity around that conversation that we’ll never hear that audio, but my goodness, what would that be worth if you could? I mean, you can read his lips enough that you have a pretty good idea of what he was saying, but wouldn’t you actually like to hear him say it? You might actually hear a little bit more about what else was being said back. I have a reasonable idea of what Nylander was saying but I don’t know exactly what precipitated it…”
This Nylander Audio Has To Come Out… Doesn’t It?
As much as the Leafs probably don’t want that audio out there, doesn’t it have to surface at some point? In today’s sports landscape, if the audio exists, someone has a way to share it. And, is it really that important to keep it hidden? Marner and Nylander were already shown to be laughing it up at practice on Monday. Whatever the beef was, they already squashed it.
Unless the players said something so heinous to each other that the Leafs need to keep it under wraps, why shy away from showing the passion the players have? At the very least, it would dispel the rumors or narrative they don’t care. A little proof that these players are emotional could go a long way. And, since most believe they know what Nylander said, it might be worth noting what was said back.
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