#william-nylander

#william-nylander

Tavares seems to be the most underrated leader on this team and possibly in the entire NHL. He had the awareness to walk away from the captaincy, hand it over to a player in Auston Matthews who is the true future of the franchise and was already the leader on the ice, and then took a massive pay cut to remain with the Leafs and give them enough financial flexibility to possibly remain competitive.

In terms of where he ranks among his right wing peers, Nylander is tied for fifth overall, with Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikita Kucherov coming at the top with 96 overall, Boston Bruins and Nylander's own best bud David Pastrnak placing second with 94 overall, Mikko Rantanen in third with 93 overall, and then reigning Stanley Cup champion Sam Reinhart rounding out the group who are rated above Nylander.

"Not sure where that stuff comes from, but I don't think he was ever thinking of leaving ahead of time," Nylander said via NHL.com. "I actually asked him during the season and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn't want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us. Then I asked him after the season and he wasn't sure."