The Toronto Maple Leafs already have one winger who averages 100 points each season, but could they have another?
Following a 98-point regular season and a spectacular, yet brief, playoff performance in the first round against the Boston Bruins, is 2024-25 the season when Toronto Maple Leafs star winger William Nylander reaches 100 points for the first time in his career?
Nylander’s start to last season couldn’t have been any better.
He began the season on a 17-game point run, a Maple Leafs team record, during which he scored 12 goals and assisted 15 times, including an overtime winner against the Minnesota Wild in his homeland of Sweden during the NHL Global Series in November.
Can the Toronto Maple Leafs’ star winger reach the 100-point plateau next season?
This excellent start to the season came amid a contract year for the Maple Leafs’ star winger, who was scheduled to become a free agency at the end of the season. However, Nylander’s outstanding play enabled him to re-sign with Toronto barely a week into the new year, allowing him to play the rest of the season without the worry or stress of contract negotiations in the offseason.
Nylander signed an eight-year, $92 million contract with an annual average value of $11.5 million on January 8th of this year. The $92 million contract represented the greatest total value transaction in Maple Leafs team history. The agreement begins this season and includes a complete no-trade clause.
Nylander was quite open about his wish to stay in Toronto before signing his contract extension. His previous contract, finalized in December 2018 following a two-month standoff with the front office, was for six years and $41.4 million ($6.9 million AAV).
As the season progressed, the 27-year-old’s play decreased from his blistering pace at the start. After appearing to be on track for a 100-point season, the talented winger finished the regular season with 98 points, a new career high.
Following his great regular season, all eyes turned to the playoffs, where he would face the Boston Bruins again in the first round.
But, as is typical of the Toronto Maple Leafs, there is always drama. After playing in the final regular-season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nylander mysteriously missed the first three games of the series due to migraines, as we later discovered.
After returning to the lineup in Game 4, the Swedish superstar went on to have an incredible series, scoring two big goals in Game 6 and the team’s only goal in Game 7.
With a bright new contract and no pressure to play in a contract year, is 2024-25 the season William Nylander reaches the 100-point threshold for the first time in his career?
