If there’s anything we’ve learned about William Nylander during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s that he knows how to deal with pressure.

When the bright lights shine on him during huge moments, in the regular season or playoffs, Nylander finds a way to produce for Toronto. He’ll score a big goal, like the two he had against the Ottawa Senators in their series-winning game, and even shrugs off losses, only to step onto the ice and play even better the next night.

There was a point during the regular season when Toronto had lost three straight games and were outscored 13-4 in the process. Many could have worried that this stretch could spiral out of control, but not Nylander.

“I think all good teams need to go through some stretch where everything’s not clicking and everything like that,” said Nylander at the time. “So, yeah, I mean, good teams find their way out of this. And, I mean, it’s only been three games, so what’s the big deal, really?”

The Maple Leafs won their next three games before losing three more in the process. Nylander, though, scored 11 points in the next seven games—including a hat-trick in his birthplace of Calgary, Alberta—after issuing the quote above.

And when the noise around the word ‘pressure’ exploded after Toronto’s second-round series loss to the Florida Panthers, Nylander shut down the narrative. He did it again earlier this week when speaking with The Fourth Period's Dave Pagnotta and Dennis Bernstein for SiriusXM.

“I think people forget that we, as players, also want to win. So I think we have our goal to want to go all the way, so been playing there for a while, but I mean, I don't know, I don't really think about what other people say or what their opinion is of how we're playing,” Nylander said. 

“We inside the locker room know what we need to do to get there, and I mean, it's not an easy battle, so you gotta appreciate the grind it takes to get there for when you do eventually get to that point.”

Nylander is coming off his third straight 40-goal season. This was his biggest year to date, though, because of his second-place finish in the Rocket Richard Trophy race (he was seven goals behind Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who won the award).

Even after three strong seasons, where he’s been healthy throughout it all, Nylander still believes he has room to grow. He's worked all summer, and once he arrives in Toronto, the more important job of chasing the Stanley Cup will begin again. 

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