William Nylander shining for Maple Leafs in playoffs: 'Nothing gets to him'

The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 09, 2025 3:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Craig Berube joked earlier this week William Nylander has small clip for his caput coach.

"He doesn't privation maine to speech to him," the Toronto Maple Leafs seat brag said with a smirk of his prima winger. "I astir apt should conscionable permission him alone."

Berube navigated his archetypal run successful Toronto getting to cognize a talented violative halfway that had experienced plentifulness of regular-season occurrence — and precise small of it successful the playoffs.

Nylander has been a accordant outpouring performer for the Leafs contempt those bitter failures. He's risen knew heights successful the latest Stanley Cup chase.

The 29-year-old winger led the Leafs with six goals and 7 assists for 13 points successful 8 contests up of Friday's Game 3 against the Florida Panthers with Toronto up 2-0 successful the second-round series.

Nylander, who sat 3rd successful playoff scoring down lone Mikko Rantanen and Connor McDavid earlier puck driblet astatine Amerant Bank Arena, is besides conscionable the 2nd Leafs subordinate successful the past 30 years — Alexander Mogilny successful 2003 is the different — to registry 5 goals implicit a three-game span successful the post-season.

"Very tenacious," Toronto skipper Auston Matthews said. "His accomplishment level and each that, everybody's seen that, but his absorption level has been truly good."

Nylander took a walk from Max Pacioretty disconnected his skate and rapidly kicked it to his instrumentality astatine afloat velocity to bushed Sergei Bobrovsky successful the Leafs' 4-3 triumph Tuesday that enactment the defending Cup champs successful an 0-2 spread against their Atlantic Division rivals.

"Nothing gets to him," said Berube, who made it wide helium talks to Nylander each the time. "There's nary excessively large a signifier for this guy. He thrives connected this stuff. He looks guardant to it and helium wants to beryllium successful each those captious situations.

"When helium smells something, he's there."

Leafs winger Matthew Knies said the mode Nylander manipulates defenders is 1 of galore attributes that sets the cool-as-ice Swede apart.

"As soon arsenic helium touches the puck you perceive the crowd," helium said. "He makes unthinkable plays. We've conscionable got to get the puck connected his instrumentality successful bully areas, and bully things happen."

Nylander, who's connected an eight-year, US$92-million declaration that runs done 2031-32, finished with a career-high 44 goals successful the regular play to necktie for 3rd wide successful the NHL.

"He's dynamic," said Leafs centre Scott Laughton, acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers astatine March's NHL commercialized deadline. "So bully with the puck, his cutbacks, getting disconnected guys successful space. You spot it successful practice, too, erstwhile you're going against him and trying to drawback up.

"He's been large for us. We're going to request him to proceed to beryllium big."

Berube has small uncertainty that volition proceed for a squad successful the 2nd circular for conscionable the 2nd clip since 2004 — and looking to extremity a Cup drought dating backmost to 1967.

"A high-end player," said the coach, who hoisted hockey's Holy Grail with the St. Louis Blues successful 2019. "I don't deliberation that helium feels unit oregon thing similar that. He conscionable plays."