There was a lot of uncertainty around the direction of the Toronto Maple Leafs after an extremely disappointing 2025-26 season. Was new management going to retool around franchise cornerstones Auston Matthews and William Nylander, or embark on a rebuild that potentially shipped them out the door?
We learned pretty quickly that new GM John Chayka had decided on the former, and Nylander is certainly glad things went that way. When recently speaking to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the superstar winger was asked about all of the roster turnover and admitted that he wasn’t up for wasting his best years in a rebuild.
“Yeah, for sure. I’m happy. If it would’ve been a rebuild, I wouldn’t have wasted what I believe to be my next six good years here… Honestly, it all comes down to winning. When we had (that) conversation, that’s what I talked about and that’s what I want to do. I know that there is potential there, and a lot of (the new) guys have been through some of the same stuff over the past couple years. You’ve got those characters too. That’s very important as well,”
The 30-year-old Nylander just began Year 3 of the eight-year, $92 million contract extension he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2024. He’s tallied six points (three goals, three assists) through the first four games of the new season.
Nylander had hinted that he may not have wanted to stick around for a rebuild before Chayka came in and reshaped the roster, and these comments certainly confirm that would have been the case.
In the end, that’s neither here nor there because Toronto added four major pieces — Gavin McKenna, Sergei Bobrovsky, Darren Raddysh and Kirill Marchenko — over the offseason, so Nylander, Matthews and company don’t have to worry about a rebuild happening anytime soon.
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