Toronto Maple Leafs right winger William Nylander has emerged as an NHL superstar over the years. 

Despite his elite offensive production, he couldn’t earn a permanent first-line role with the Maple Leafs. This is because Mitch Marner often formed a duo with captain Auston Matthews.

That could all change for Nylander in this upcoming campaign.

Now that Marner is no longer a Maple Leaf, Nylander is the obvious choice to step in as the first-line right winger. Marner went to the Vegas Golden Knights on an eight-year contract with a $12-million cap hit in a sign-and-trade. The Maple Leafs received Nicolas Roy in return.

Nylander has not missed a single regular-season game in the past three seasons. In those 246 straight games, he scored 125 goals and 269 points. Along the way, he set a career high of 45 goals last season and a personal best of 98 points two seasons ago.

The 29-year-old can shoot it in with the best of them, but is that enough now that Marner is gone?

The Swede is known to be a relaxed individual who often appears unbothered, but the pressure could be cranked up a little higher for him next season. 

While he is very much in the spotlight in Toronto, he hasn’t received the same level of attention from the media and fans as Marner and Matthews have (and still do).

There is plenty of scoring to make up for with Marner now in Nevada, and it’s natural for fans to look at Nylander to pick up the pieces. But Marner did more than score.

The truth is, Marner and Nylander are different players. Marner had responsibilities at both ends of the ice, including leading Leafs forwards on the penalty kill. Nylander played nearly two minutes on the PK all season. 

Marner finished seventh in Selke Trophy voting in 2024-25, all while scoring 102 points, the fifth-most among NHLers in the regular season. He also finished third in Selke voting in 2022-23 when he had 99 points.

Nylander isn’t known for his 200-foot game, and he’s never received a vote for the Selke. That could be exposed this season, especially when Leafs fans are used to seeing a player who can do that.

Is There Anyone Left For The Maple Leafs To Spend Marner-Type Money On? For once, the Toronto Maple Leafs have something that they haven’t had in about a decade: salary cap space.

How he plays in the regular season is one thing, but the playoffs are a different beast. 

In the nine straight post-seasons that he’s featured in, Nylander has had the luxury of being matched up against the opposition’s second line. 

For example, when the Maple Leafs faced off against the Florida Panthers in the second round, he wasn’t matched up against three-time Selke winner Aleksander Barkov and Selke finalist Sam Reinhart. The same could be said for six-time Selke winner Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins in all those Boston-Toronto series.

Now, Nylander will be forced to meet the challenge of facing the top defensive players of the opposition on a near-nightly basis.

There is no doubt that Nylander has offensive talent like no one else in the NHL, but he will face a challenge that he has yet to experience.

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