William Nylander made a bold commitment when he signed an eight-year extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
The $92 million deal was the biggest in the franchise’s history and erased any doubts that the Swedish forward had any intentions of wanting to catch the first flight out of the city. If anything, it cemented his love for an organization he has spent the decade on and a community in which he has firmly established himself into. In the 10 months since that became official, suffice it to say that he is already living up to that contract and then some.
During a recent interview with Sharp’s David Stol, Nylander reflected on that monumental extension and what it meant to him to get that security with the term and a non-movement clause. Given that he moved around a lot while his dad, Michael, was in the NHL, Toronto was the first place that has felt like home outside of Sweden and he has no desire to be anywhere else in the league.
“I get it. The money gets the headlines,” he said. “But for me, the contract was so much more of a message from the team and the city saying, ‘We want you here. We want to win a championship with you.’ I hope signing it was a clear message back that I want to be here. This is it. This is home.”
Part of that commitment has been settling into a place in the Yorkville area, hopping on the TTC on game days, and taking his dogs for walks around the city. Nylander has taken it upon himself to connect with the people of Toronto by going out of his way to chat with fans whenever he is able to so that he can better connect with the culture and add further fuel to his drive to achieve glory for the community.
When reflecting on the moment it first hit him that Toronto is a different beast, he recounted a funny story that occurred when he was in town for the rookie development camp.
“I’ve been in this city for maybe 15 minutes. I leave the hotel and walk down the street to grab Chipotle and this tour bus drives by and the driver pulls out a microphone and says, ‘The Leafs’ William Nylander is on your left.’ Like, what the fuck man,” he laughs. “I’m barely a Leaf. I’m barely even in the city yet. But that’s the culture man. […] It’s what makes it so unique. It just matters more.”
Since being selected eighth overall in the 2014 Draft, Nylander has fully bought into doing everything he can to snap the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history. Unfortunately for him and the fans, the Leafs have yet to make a deep run in the playoffs with the furthest they have gone being the second round in 2023.
Nylander has taken the mounting heartbreaks hard because he wants nothing more than to give back to the city he will get to call home for another eight years with a championship he feels they deserve. He does not want to do it anywhere else and will do everything in his power to ensure that he can achieve his goal alongside his teammates.
“These fans, they’re crazy. They’re the most passionate fans in the world. I know how much those losses hurt, especially to Boston. But I hope they know it kills me, too. Fuck, man. It really does,” he said. “When it’s all said and done, I just want to be the guy that was on the team that won the Cup for us. Forget about everything else. That would be the only thing that would matter.”
“That’s why I signed here. I want to win a championship more than anything.”
