It was not always a sure thing that John Tavares would end up re-signing to stay a part of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but star winger William Nylander is overjoyed that he decided to stick with his childhood team.
The longtime linemate of Tavares is appearing in an interview on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio this Wednesday but as part of a preview, Nylander went on to talk about Tavares coming back to Toronto and how much he appreciates what the center brings to this team.
#LeafsForever William Nylander joined @TheFourthPeriod & @DennisTFP at the NHL European Player Media Tour
— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) August 25, 2025
Catch the full interview on Wednesday at 10am ET pic.twitter.com/X3fC3fOOVw
“Yeah, I mean, he’s been an incredible leader for me and I’ve learned a lot from him both on and off the ice," Nylander said. "He’s been great for the team and showed his commitment to wanting to wake up in Toronto. So I think everybody on the team appreciates that a lot, and that shows leadership for sure.”
Tavares seems to be the most underrated leader on this team and possibly in the entire NHL. He had the awareness to walk away from the captaincy, hand it over to a player in Auston Matthews who is the true future of the franchise and was already the leader on the ice, and then took a massive pay cut to remain with the Leafs and give them enough financial flexibility to possibly remain competitive.
The moment Tavares inked his four-year, $17.56-million contract with a miniscule cap hit of $4.389 million compared to what he brings to this team on and off the ice, it was even more obvious how much he loves playing (and waking up, as Nylander said) in this city.
With the winger that we honestly have grown tired talking about, no longer a part of the Maple Leafs as he opted to go play for some no-name NHL team out there in Nevada, both Nylander and Tavares will have even more responsibility to lead this team offensively. Sure, the new additions like Matias Maccelli and being able to secure more scoring depth like Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua with the newly available cap space is nice, but when it comes to the top-of-the-lineup players, it's more pressure on the two forwards that decided to commit the next several years to this team.