One of the hottest conversations around hockey right now is the play of Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander. On a team loaded with talent, which might be an understatement, Nylander has stood out above them all.
Nylander has had a point in every game the Maple Leafs have played so far this season and we aren’t five games in anymore. Having a 17-game point streak at any time of year is incredibly impressive and this one is to start the year.
He just had the weekend of his life as his family and friends watched him play in Sweden. The Toronto Maple Leafs went there with three other teams as a part of the NHL Global Series.
There, he had one game where he led a huge comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings and another where he scored in overtime to defeat the Minnesota Wild. It was a brilliant stretch of hockey for him in his homeland.
William Nylander is one of the best players in the National Hockey League
Now, Nylander is amongst the NHL scoring leaders as he has 27 points in the 17 games played. Those 12 goals and 15 assists have helped the Toronto Maple Leafs deal with some early-season rust that needs to be worked out.
He also picked a very good year to be doing this for himself. This is a contract year for him and he seems to be headed for a huge pay upgrade. He has been making $6.9 million against the salary cap for a while now while Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares are all over $10 million.
Nylander is probably in line to have a similar contract once this year is over. Honestly, the Maple Leafs should have signed him while he would have been cheaper. Now, they might not be able to afford him if they don’t get rid of one of the other three.
Auston Matthews is still the best player of the bunch so Nylander could make less than him but more than the other two. Will the Leafs do it or will he walk in free agency this summer? There are a lot of teams that would sign up for his services.
Plenty of teams make sense for Nylander right now. If he were to declare that he is done in Toronto, these are the teams that should be desperately trying to get him: