Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is the sixth-best winger in the NHL, according to NHL Network.
In an article published on Wednesday, the site—with the help of NHL Network producers and analysts—revealed its top 20 wingers across the league. A few prominent players placed behind Nylander were fellow Swede Adrian Kempe (20), Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin (17), Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk (14), and Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk (7).
Nylander had a career year with the Maple Leafs, finishing second in goals with 45, behind Edmonton Oilers’ forward Leon Draisaitl, who scored 52. He was also second in team scoring with 84 points in 82 games, only trailing Mitch Marner with 102 points.
“Nylander is one of four players to score 40 goals in three straight seasons for the Maple Leafs along with Auston Matthews (five straight, 2019-24), Rick Vaive (1981-84) and Lanny McDonald (1976-79),” NHL.com wrote. “Nylander also played all 82 games for the third straight season; his streak of 259 consecutive games played is seventh among active NHL forwards.”
NHL 26 Trailer Features Mitch Marner Shooting On Maple Leafs — Does He Score?The time of year has arrived when Electronic Arts teases the latest installment of its popular hockey video game series. On Thursday, the company dropped a two-minute trailer for NHL ’26 — and, as expected, they slipped in shots of players sporting their new teams’ jerseys.
Right in front of the 29-year-old on the list is Marner, who’s now with the Vegas Golden Knights. He joined Vegas after a sign-and-trade with Toronto, which featured Nicolas Roy heading back to the Maple Leafs. Marner finished fifth in the NHL for points last season.
Dallas Stars’ forward Mikko Rantanen (4), Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov (3), Boston Bruins’ David Pastrnak (2), and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov make up the remainder of the NHL’s top wingers.
A fascinating player who was left off the list was Matthew Knies. Although Brady Tkachuk led the Ottawa Senators to their first playoff birth in eight seasons, Knies finished last year with more points in the regular season (29 goals and 29 assists).
However, it’s worth mentioning that Brady had more playoff points (seven in six games) than Knies (three goals) in the first-round series between Toronto and Ottawa, which the Maple Leafs won in six games. Nylander tallied nine points (three goals and six assists) in the series.
Despite being on summer break, Nylander has had a massive offseason. First, he was named one of six players to represent Team Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan this February. The Swede was also awarded the GuldPucken this week, given to the top Swedish hockey player of the year.
This article originally appeared on The Hockey News: Former Maple Leafs Star Mitch Marner Ahead Of William Nylander In NHL.com's Top Winger Rankings
