'I Was Looking At Taps For My Condo Because It's Being Renovated': How William Nylander Found Out The Maple Leafs Were Signing His Brother, Alex, To NHL Deal

Friday was an emotional day for the Nylander family as Alex signed an NHL deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 26-year-old forward signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Maple Leafs on Friday afternoon as the team continues to deal with numerous injuries to their forward group.

Alex hoped to surprise his brother, William, with the news on Friday, but the 28-year-old knew beforehand that his brother would be signing with Toronto.

"I was looking at taps for my condo because it's being renovated and I was there with my dad and Brad [Treliving] called and told me that they were signing Alex," William said on Saturday after practice.

"It was a very special moment."

Alex signed an AHL contract with the Marlies on July 28, in hopes of earning an NHL deal with Toronto, to play with William. Four months later, after scoring eight goals and four assists in 14 games with the Marlies, the dream of playing together in the NHL came true.

Related: Why The Maple Leafs Signed Alex Nylander To A One-Year NHL Deal

"I was going to try to tell him when he came home, but he already knew already. He was super happy," Alex said on Saturday. "My dad was so happy, he got a little emotional and it was just really awesome to see. It was awesome yesterday."

Even Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube could see how excited William was to be practicing alongside Alex with the Maple Leafs.

"Willy was scoring a lot of goals today in practice," the head coach said with a grin.

Related: Alex Nylander Had NHL Offers But Chose AHL Deal with Marlies Because of Maple Leafs' Development Options, To Potentially Play with Brother William

The two brothers last played a competitive game on the same team at the 2016 World Juniors in Helsinki, Finland. What does William remember about that experience?

"I got concussed. I don't remember too much," he laughed.

"I think we scored the first shift together. We actually played on the same line. It would've been a lot of fun to play the entire tournament together, but things happen for a reason."

At Maple Leafs practice on Saturday, William played alongside Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg on Toronto's second line. Alex skated with Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin, two players he played on a line with on the Marlies.

We may see them both on the ice together at some point on Sunday when the Maple Leafs take on the Utah Hockey Club. However, could we see the brothers on a line in the future?

"I haven't talked to [Berube] about that. But maybe he'll watch this interview and maybe he'll do something," before bursting out in laughter, "I'm just kidding,"

What does Berube think about that possibility?

"Well, not right away. We'll see what happens," Berube said with a smile. "I mean, we'll just see how it goes."