Biography
William Nylander was born on May 1, 1996, in Calgary, when his father, longtime NHL forward Michael Nylander, a native of Sweden, was playing with the Flames. William was raised in a series of cities in the U.S., as the family followed Michael's career to Tampa Bay, Chicago, Washington, Boston and New York. In all, Michael played 920 games with seven NHL teams.
With the advantage of having a father who played in the NHL, the nature-nurture mix has proven to be a pedigree for success, at least so far.
From age 14, William lived in his father's native country, where he polished his on-ice vision and his high-end offensive talents, playing for teams such as Sodertalje and Rogle before spending parts of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons with Modo of the Swedish Hockey League. In his debut with Sodertalje of Feb. 14, 2013, William got to play with his father.
The Toronto Maple Leafs took Nylander with the No. 8 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. After the 5-foot-11, 190-pound center was the fifth-leading scorer at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, the Maple Leafs opted to send him to Toronto of the American Hockey League. In 37 games during the second half of the 2013-14 season, Nylander had 14 goals and 32 points, giving Toronto fans a preview of what was to come when he joined the NHL club.
He was even better in 2015-16, scoring 18 goals and putting up 45 points in 38 AHL games. He also had six goals and 13 points in 22 games with the Maple Leafs, making the transition from a young talent learning the pro ropes step-by-step, to a member of a talented young NHL team that's expected to perform, night after night.
Nylander became an NHL regular in 2016-17, finishing with 61 points in each of the next two seasons. He sat out the first two months of the 2018-19 season before reaching a contract agreement with the Maple Leafs and dropped to 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists) in 54 games, but bounced back in 2019-20, scoring an NHL career-high 31 goals and finishing with 59 points in 68 games.
William isn't the only Nylander in the NHL; younger brother Alexander is a forward who was taken by the Buffalo Sabres with the No. 8 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on July 9, 2019.
