Maple Leafs forward William Nylander expressed his belief in his teammates, specifically the ‘core four’ today at end-of-season availability.
Maple Leafs forward William Nylander expressed his belief in his teammates, specifically the ‘core four’ today at end-of-season availability.
William Nylander was among many players who defend the Toronto Maple Leafs' early exit in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I know that we have an incredible group here. And I know that we have been battling years together, and I think taking great steps,” Nylander said, speaking at the club's end-of-season medial availability on Monday.
“Like I said before, this year was game seven, OT. I was out for games, Matty was out for games. We battled to get back into the series, and I think that just shows, and I think that's a huge part to having a group. Not happy with the result, with that said, but I think what we have in here is great,”
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After crawling their way back out of a 3-1 hole they dug for themselves, the Maple Leafs managed to reach another Game 7 in their history against none other than the Boston Bruins. Rallied behind an exhilarating and motivating comeback to even the series at three apiece, the Leafs fell just short, again.
With the offseason now in full effect, questions have begun to settle in across one of the NHL’s most prolific markets here in Toronto. Atop of General Manager Brad Treliving’s to-do list, rests the fate of the ‘Core Four’, consisting of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares.
When asked postgame on Saturday night about his thoughts regarding keeping the core four together, Nylander said, “Look, I don’t think there’s an issue with the core. I think we were f****ng right there all series, battled hard and I mean, got to game seven and OT. That's a s***ty feeling.”
The problem Nylander and the Leafs find themselves in is an all-too-familiar spot, a first-round exit – an occurrence that has happened in seven of the last eight postseasons. Year after year, it has been the same conversations and ultimately the same results; the core feeling that they have a legitimate chance to break through.
The same attitude was had by captain John Tavares and Mitch Marner that kept the focus on what they are capable of rather than what they have done.
“Well, we're right there,” Tavares said. “A lot of things could be a lot different where we stand today, just one shot away. So I just think just the way we've competed and grown and shown the different types of hockey that we can play. Obviously, we still have to overcome some of the hurdles that we've been facing and that we need to do to get the job done, and that's on us and on myself. But I think we're right there.”
“These are great players. I mean, it's seven games, and it's an all out war out there every single game. It's never gonna get easier. It's always a challenging thing, and challenges build obviously adversity. And we've been through a lot of that, and it's only gonna make us better,” added Mitch Marner.
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Recapping their postseason stats, Matthews led the pack with 4 points (1G, 3A), Nylander (3G) and Marner (1G, 2A) both rallied 3 points, with Tavares having a goal and an assist (1G, 1A) through seven games – combining for 12 of the Maple Leafs’ points in total and an underwhelming power play succeeding at just a 1-for-21 rate.
Even with a decision to juggle the pieces around, both Marner and Tavares have a no-movement clause and are set to enter the 2024-25 season on expiring contracts – making it that much more difficult to make significant change.
The ‘core four’ predicament is highlighted by nearly sixty percent of the salary cap tied to these four players, with the same recurring results happening over and over again – a track record of playoff failure since the fall of 2016. Sentiments aside, Treliving and co. have to decide if they agree.
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