Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander isn't convinced that former teammate Mitch Marner was planning to move on from the team last season.
Nylander said that Marner was focused on helping the team end their Stanley Cup drought and that there was never any mention of him thinking about where he was going to sign in free agency.
“Not sure where that stuff comes from, but I don’t think he was ever thinking of leaving ahead of time,” Nylander told NHL.com at the NHL/NHL Players Association European Player Media Tour on Friday. “I actually asked him during the season and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn’t want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us. Then I asked him after the season and he wasn’t sure.”
Marner wound up departing the Leafs in the off-season through a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, with his new deal coming in at eight years, $96 million.
Nylander signed his extension with the Leafs back in 2024 for eight years, with an $11.5 million cap hit. While he would have liked to see Marner stay, Nylander isn't dwelling on the fallout for the team.
“It’s tough seeing him go, but I’m so happy for him and his family,” Nylander said. “He got to pick where he went, so, in that aspect, I’m happy for him. We’re going to miss him a lot, but that’s just the business of the sport. That’s the way it is. So we’ve got to regroup as a team and figure out a way to keep winning games.”
Both Nylander and Marner have played together since 2016, helping the Leafs reach the playoffs in each season, but have not advanced past Round 2.
Nylander also added that while Marner's contributions on the ice will be tough to replace, he also believes that his efforts to plan team activities will be missed.
“We came in and played our first full season together and our friendship just grew from there. He’s an incredible person," Nylander said. "Off the ice, too. He was the one making sure that we had team events like Halloween parties, dinners, all those kind of events. He would set those things up. Somebody’s going to have to take on that role now because he did an incredible job doing all that stuff.
“And then, just being a friend on the side, just an incredible guy. I could always talk to him about whatever. He’ll be missed. And for what he does on the ice, just an incredible player.”
Toronto faces a tough challenge to replace Marner's production after the winger notched his first 100-plus point season. Nylander is coming off a career-high 45 goals last season and likely needs to take a step forward in Marner's absence.
Despite losing one of their top offensive players, Nylander remains confident that the team can push forward, considering how they took the Stanley Cup champions to the distance in their series.
“It was probably one of our best seasons since I’ve been in Toronto,” the 29-year-old said. “I mean, we pushed Florida to the limit. We had a couple of (bad) games against them, Games 5 and 7, but for the most part, we were right there in that series. So I think we can really build off that and learn from what we did wrong to be better in those situations.”
Nylander did not know if the team would consider moving him to the top line with Auston Matthews, but he is ready to do whatever the Leafs ask.
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