Maple Leafs' William Nylander shares blunt thoughts on trade rumors
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Maple Leafs' William Nylander shares blunt thoughts on trade rumors originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Toronto Maple Leafs needed to start hot out of the Olympic break to avoid selling at the NHL's trade deadline, which is March 6.
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Instead, they lost two games in two nights.
Now, it feels like trades are imminent. It's really the only logical path they have to take.
And it means players are going to start being asked about this scenario. That was William Nylander being asked the question on Thursday night after the 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
"Yeah, I don't know what to say," Nylander told reporters. "It's their decision & whatever they do, I'm still going to be trying my best every night."
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That's a similar answer to the one Auston Matthews gave before the Olympic break about the potential for his teammates to be traded away before the deadline.
The reality for Nylander and Matthews, though, is that they won't be the ones getting traded (barring a total stunner). They'll just watch as the roster gets depleted for future assets.
Both of them have long-term contracts and can still be viewed as cornerstone players for the franchise.
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If the Leafs do indeed sell, the focus will be on moving on from players near or at the end of their contracts, along with guys who don't have obviously immense futures.
Toronto won't want to enter a full-on rebuild, so there won't be any trading away of clear stars. Instead, the focus will be on finding a way to retool for a better season in 2026-27.
Nylander and Matthews will just have to play good hockey, no matter who remains on the ice around them.
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