William Nylander has to be the most divisive Leaf since Phil Kessel. The young Swede is loved by some fans and despised by others. His $6.9 million cap hit is both a bargain and one that must be traded to save cap space every season. He's not a playoff type player but he led the team in playoff scoring last season. In short, Nylander is an enigma.
Nylander's extremely relaxed demeanor on and off the ice is a huge part of what makes some fans hate him, but it can be a great asset. There's no such thing as pressure in Willy's mind. He just goes out and does his thing. His personality shone through in a hilarious post game media scrum after the Leafs downed the Islanders 4-2 Sunday night, breaking Leafs records for both wins and points in a season while eliminating the Isles from playoff contention all in one fell swoop.
Nylander was asked how it feels to be just one goal shy of his career high, Willy didn't have an answer for this one, he had no idea he was approaching that milestone, or how many goals he'd actually scored this season. When he was told he'd just scored his 31st, he was surprised, saying "I didn't know that, I thought I had more," before bursting out in laughter.
Nylander heaped praise on teammates Mitch Marner and Pierre Envgall for their success this season. While talking about Engvall, he needed to be reminded what city they played in Saturday night. Classic Willy, no idea how many goals he's scored, or where he was last night, just playing hockey and loving every second, not a care in the world.
What will surprise some fans were his words about the playoffs. Nylander made it clear that a good regular season is not enough for this team, and that regular season success is not their ultimate goal. In what seems to be a recurring theme with every Leaf who is asked about this season, Nylander stated clearly that playoff success is paramount to this group. They want it as badly as we do. With only 6 games remaining until the playoffs start, Nylander and the Leafs are ready for what comes next.
