Maple Leafs' William Nylander has joined the NHL's elite

William Nylander is on pace to shatter several Toronto Maple Leafs records, but he simply does not care about individual accolades, which may just happen to be the byproduct of a tour-de-force start to the 2023-24 campaign.

Nylander has unlocked complete, all-around excellence while carrying a season-long point streak as the Maple Leafs embark upon their trip to Sweden for the NHL Global Series, a homecoming of sorts for the 27-year-old.

Tied for ninth in the NHL in goals (10) and eighth in points (22), Nylander is on pace for 55 goals and 121 points, both of which would be career-best totals and exemplify why his 15-game point streak to begin the season should put him in the early conversation for the Hart Trophy. It’s not a stretch to suggest that Nylander could surpass Doug Gilmour’s franchise record 127 points in a single season.

Prior to Thursday’s games, Nylander’s 70 shots in all situations are tied for the league lead alongside Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon. Nylander is tied for fifth in shots at 5-on-5, he’s ranked 14th in individual expected goals and he’s never been more effective as a goal scorer or as a playmaker.

Since entering the league during the 2015-16 season for a 22-game stint, Nylander’s primary function has been to operate as an offensive weapon, putting defenders on their heels using his game-breaking speed.

This year, however, Nylander is also off to the best defensive start of his career and has been a plus asset on the other side of the puck for a Maple Leafs team hemorrhaging goals through the first two months of the year. Nylander is tied for 171st out of 501 eligible players (125 minutes or greater played at 5-on-5) in expected goals against per 60, one of the best catch-all metrics to evaluate individual defensive performance.

In simple terms, Nylander is excelling in all facets of the game: the Swede's three giveaways puts him in the 21st percentile of responsible players at 5-on-5, while he’s generated eight takeaways. These numbers aren’t just academic as well, as Nylander is turning defense into offense better than almost anyone.

Last season, Nylander played 69 shifts on the penalty kill, and is pacing towards a slight uptick this season (87 shifts) now that he's unlocked the best version to date of his defensive game. During a 5-4 shootout win against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 10 — arguably Nylander’s best game of the year in a season full of elite performances — he picked off Noah Hanifin short-handed and scored a highlight-reel goal.

These types of plays are happening more frequently throughout the year for Nylander. During an Oct. 28 game against the Nashville Predators at even strength, the shifty winger picked off veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh and sprung in for a breakaway. He didn’t score, but his process and ability to strike fear in transition has become nearly unmatched.

Nylander is in a contract year, and his ongoing negotiations remain a daily point of interest, both to an obsessed local market and a larger national audience, who are eager to determine whether a game-breaking talent could leave the center of the hockey universe in the prime of his career. Speculating about contracts is part of the business, but it’s also the most boring prism to evaluate Nylander when he’s on a torrid run like this.

The facts are simple: Nylander hasn’t wavered from his public stance that he wants to remain with the Maple Leafs and became slightly irritated at the repeated line of questioning during training camp. Nylander’s agent, Lewis Gross, is handling the negotiations on his camp’s behalf, and while there are whispers emerging that Nylander’s camp is looking to get every penny that he’s worth, that’s a problem for later.

Toronto’s power play is clicking at a 28.3% rate, the sixth-best mark in the league prior to Thursday’s games. A lot of its success has to do with Nylander’s increased willingness to shoot during the man advantage. Previous iterations of the Maple Leafs power play generally, but not exclusively, resulted in two outcomes: Mitch Marner manipulating space on the half wall while working to find an optimal spot for Auston Matthews at the top of or inside the faceoff circle, or Marner, Nylander and Matthews working to find John Tavares in the bumper spot or at the net-front, looking to jam in a rebound.

Nylander has become such a deadly shooter and is playing with such confidence that his own teammates are treating him like Matthews, and it’s worked to the tune of four goals (tied for seventh league-wide) and eight points (tied for 20th, alongside Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Steven Stamkos among others) with the man advantage. In the above clip from a Nov. 8 game against the Ottawa Senators, Matthews makes every effort to find Nylander off the faceoff and he rewards his teammates with a perfectly placed laser.

Of course, there’s a third option, both on the power play and at even strength: Nylander flies through the neutral zone, needing just two steps to accelerate into high gear. During the game against the Flames, Nylander senses some miscommunication between the Flames’ defense pair, picks up the puck and turns Rasmus Andersson, a very good defender, into a traffic cone before deking Dan Vladar out of his pads. There’s no wonder why he’s received the team belt several times.

This play doesn’t lead directly to a goal, but Nylander displays the confidence to shrug off several Kings defenders and generate a high-danger look all by himself — scary hours indeed.

Throughout the season, Nylander has navigated tight spaces and displayed continued growth and patience as a playmaker. On this play, Nylander wins the puck behind the net against Miro Heiskanen — arguably the best defensive defenseman in the NHL this season — bides his time with some terrific edge work, then spins the pass almost like a rugby ball through Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, onto Rielly’s stick for a tap-in.

Nylander has been consistently excellent throughout 15 games, the lone constant during an erratic start from the Maple Leafs. Contrary to the narrative spread across the Greater Toronto Area and pockets of Southern Ontario, Nylander is winning puck battles constantly and his two-man game with Tavares has allowed Toronto to sustain possession nearly every time his line is on the ice. Take last Friday's game against the Calgary Flames, as Nylander gets belted into the boards by former teammate Nazem Kadri but still manages to deliver a no-look, between the look pass to a wide-open Tavares, who converts it easily.

Nylander is going to be worth every penny for the Maple Leafs on his next deal, and it’s incumbent upon GM Brad Treliving and president Brendan Shanahan to figure out the details and worry about fit later. He’s a game-breaking offensive talent who has elevated his game to new heights, is in the middle of the best defensive season of his career which often directly translates into more offense, has formed one of the best 1-2 combos in the league alongside Tavares, is beloved by his teammates and doesn’t care about individual accolades.

Ahead of his homecoming in Sweden, Nylander has unlocked all-around excellence and is in the middle of a career year, with larger personal and team goals still on the horizon.