It is back to business in the NHL for William Nylander and the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs following the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
That also means that he’ll be reunited on the ice with Auston Matthews, whose Team USA defeated Nylander and Sweden in the quarterfinals of the Olympics before beating Slovakia in the semifinals and taking down Canada in the gold-medal match.
On Tuesday, Nylander joined the Maple Leafs for his first practice back from the Olympics and opened up about the disappointment of losing to Matthews and the Americans. He admitted that he’s yet to talk to Matthews since the loss to Team USA, but shared what he told the Maple Leafs captain after the matchup.
“I told him (Matthews) to win it after they beat us, so I’m happy they did,” the Maple Leafs’ point leader so far in the 2025-26 season said, via Leafslatest.
Team USA survived that thriller against Sweden, 2-1, with Matthews playing a significant role in the victory, as he assisted on Quinn Hughes’ goal in overtime.
Now, Matthews and Nylander will work together again, as the Maple Leafs resume their mission to end the franchise’s long Stanley Cup drought.
Toronto entered the Olympic break on a three-game winning streak and will look to keep it going on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla.
