Report: Maple Leafs Weighed Nylander Trade for Flyers Star in 2021?

William Nylander has seen his name pop up in trade rumors throughout his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, though nothing has ever actually come to fruition.

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There have been times, however, when a Nylander trade felt close — or at least possible — and according to Maple Leafs superfan and content creator The Hockey Illuminati, that was the case in 2021.

He shared in a video on X (formerly Twitter) that he recently heard about a proposed deal that would have sent Nylander to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Travis Konecny and a draft pick.

“I was talking with a friend of a friend over the weekend. This guy works very closely on the Amazon Prime documentary about the Leafs back in 2021. He was telling me that they were essentially following the team around 24/7 for a full year. They had a ton of footage and a lot of it didn’t make it into the series.

One of the more interesting scenes that was deleted for obvious reasons was a very heated spicy debate between the brain trust of Kyle Dubas, Brendan Shanahan and Sheldon Keefe about whether or not they should accept a trade Philly had just proposed to them which was Konecny and a draft pick for Nylander. Shanahan wanted to do it, Dubas did not want to do it, and Keefe was in the middle. Ultimately, they all couldn’t get on the same page and they passed. But apparently it was this close to happening. Travis Konecny for Nylander,”

Both Nylander and Konecny ultimately signed long-term extensions with their respective teams in 2024. Nylander inked an eight-year, $92 million contract with the Maple Leafs, while Konecny landed an eight-year, $70 million deal with the Flyers.

If the reported discussions were as serious as described, this would have been a franchise-altering trade for both teams. It also makes you wonder how things might have played out for Mitch Marner and whether he’d still be in Toronto today.

Nylander didn’t have his best year during the shortened 2020-21 campaign, but he’s followed it up with the five best seasons of his career. Looking back now, the Maple Leafs are surely glad they decided against making the move, even though they haven’t had the ultimate playoff success they’ve long been hoping for along the way.

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