Nylander spoke with Jonas Siegel of The Athletic about the Maple Leafs potentially retooling or rebuilding the organization.
William Nylander is keen on seeing his future out with the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, there's a caveat.
The 29-year-old forward spoke to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic in a one-on-one interview after the team practiced in Anaheim on Wednesday, days after the dismissal of general manager Brad Treliving.
The biggest talking point was Nylander's future and the organization's future.
As it stands, Toronto is going to miss the playoffs for the first time since either Nylander or Auston Matthews arrived full-time on the Maple Leafs. And beyond this season, the club's direction is unknown.
They can charter two paths: a retool or a full rebuild.
Nylander, specifically, is OK with one of those options — a retool — and for good reason. But, if the incoming new head of hockey operations decides on a full teardown, the Swede isn't sure he'll want to stick around.
"Unless it was a full rebuild and we were going to get rid of everybody, then it's a different story. Then you take that conversation then," Nylander told Siegel of The Athletic. "But just to do a retool or whatever, I don't even know, but I mean, I still want to be here, yeah."
Nylander added that, before Treliving was removed from his role as Maple Leafs GM, the two spoke, and Treliving affirmed that a retool was the direction the club was going.
Now, that can always change if the new hockey mind in charge changes the opinion of MLSE CEO Keith Pelley and the board. But even when speaking on Tuesday in the wake of Treliving's dismissal, it sounded like Pelley was interested in a retool rather than a rebuild.
"I think we have some foundational pieces, we have generational pieces in 34, and in 88, and in 23, and in 91," the MLSE CEO and president said, naming off Auston Matthews, Nylander, Matthew Knies, and John Tavares.
"We have strong goaltending. There's a lot of positives. We now just have to surround those individuals with better pieces, and that will be a decision, and the task, of the new head of hockey operations."
Nylander is in the second season of an eight-year, $92 million contract, which was signed under Treliving's leadership with Toronto in Jan. 2024. He's got a no-movement clause for the entire deal, until it expires in 2032.
The forward leads all Maple Leafs in scoring with 26 goals and 71 points in 58 games this season.