Toronto Maple Leafs fans' ire was always going to shift to another player once Mitch Marner signed with the Vegas Golden Knights. In retrospect, William Nylander should've been seen as the easiest target. The Swedish winger can outskill anyone on any given night, but when things aren't going right and he's avoiding contact and not helping in the defensive zone, an intelligent fanbase like Toronto's will see right through it.
Things have been ugly for Nylander this season, despite averaging over a point per game. His 11 goals and 11 assists are a bit propped up by a mid-October road game against the Colorado Avalanche, where he had five points, and most fans would say he hasn't really looked the same since then. There are flashes, but not enough to justify his need to blow the zone and not help a struggling defense corps.
The hype around Nylander as the trade piece that fixes their defense woes has grown, and the winger has heard what people are saying. If you don't believe that NHLers listen to the media, then Nylander's answer to a question from reporters on Wednesday contradicts that.
William Nylander says he isn’t worried about criticism of his game or whether it affects him right now
— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) November 11, 2026
“I mean, I’ve been here for 10 years. People have been saying I’m going to get traded for the majority of that time, so it is what it is.”
🎥: @MapleLeafs #leafs pic.twitter.com/zRDbnzH935
Now, Nylander's response might've been a good one, as it suggests the trade talks aren't affecting him and that it might just be a run of bad play. However, the unidentified reporter asked whether talk of his bad play was affecting him and didn't ask him anything about trade talks at all. Clearly, Nylander came to the availability with the agenda of shooting down all trade discussion, whether reporters asked him about it or not.
William Nylander's trade rumors response was puzzling
It would be good if the trade rumors didn't affect him, but I would argue they might be weighing on his mind a little bit if they were brought up unprompted. Maybe Nylander has been in the Toronto spotlight long enough that he knows where the line of questioning is headed and tried to get ahead of it, but it's a peculiar response nonetheless.
The response could explain why he looks pretty unmotivated, and some may even say, lazy, over the past couple of weeks. Is he hearing rumors? Is he reading too many X posts from accounts with 10 followers? Did John Chayka and the front office go as far as to ask him about his no-move clause? Either way, a trade is on Nylander's mind, but the winger is doing everything he can to make people believe it isn't affecting him.
While it's a good message to send to the fans, the next question is: if it's not external trade rumors affecting you, why are you playing so poorly?
Add us as a preferred source on Google