William Nylander drops epic quote about Stanley Cup desire with Leafs

Few players can claim to know the rigours of playing in hockey’s biggest market better than William Nylander throughout his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A first-round pick of the Leafs a full decade ago, Nylander has seen all sorts of highs and lows since joining the organization.

And while trade rumours were commonplace through much of his early years with the team, Nylander appears set to stay, given the eight-year contract extension he signed earlier this year that keeps him signed until 2032.

But while Nylander has had plenty of individual success during his time in Toronto, the same can’t always be said about the team. Though they’ve made the playoffs every year since Nylander’s full rookie season in 2016-17, the team has just one first-round playoff win in 2023 to show for it.

Speaking to Sharp Magazine‘s David Stol, Nylander dropped a series of pretty powerful quotes about his desire to win the Stanley Cup with Toronto and break the franchise’s 57-year-long championship drought.

“When it’s all said and done, I just want to be the guy that was on the team that won the Cup for us. Forget about everything else. That would be the only thing that would matter. That’s why I signed here. I want to win a championship more than anything,” Nylander told Sharp.

Stol then followed up by asking if Toronto would be the ideal place to win a championship.

“It’s the only place to do it,” Nylander replied.

While talk is cheap, Nylander’s definitely backed up his words so far this season. He’s put up 24 points and a team-high 14 goals in 29 games, with Toronto currently in first place in the Atlantic Division despite a lengthy absence of team captain Auston Matthews.

If Toronto does end its devastating drought in the coming few years, you can bet Nylander will likely play a pretty massive part in making that dream a reality.

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