BREAKING: Maple Leafs Force William Nylander to Come Back to Canada

While William Nylander had the intention of playing for Sweden in the world championships, it appears the Leafs have dragged him back to Canada.

Leafs Force Nylander Back to Canada

After the Leafs second round loss to the Florida Panthers, lots of players were eager to continue playing, including William Nylander and Timothy Liljegren.

Nylander and Liljegren, who are both Swedish, had the option to play for Sweden at the world championships.


Gord Miller of TSN reported this earlier today:


The intriguing part about this is how the Leafs let Liljegren play in the world championships but did not allow Nylander to do the same.

This looks to be an asset protection decision because the Leafs do not want to risk Nylander getting hurt in turn hurting his potential trade value and his value to the team come next fall.

Nylander also has a modified no trade clause that kicks in this summer which could be another reason why the Leafs are forcing him back to Canada. If he is in North America for the off-season, it could be easier to trade him for a high price.