Maple Leafs' William Nylander approves of Matthew Tkachuk's comment about extreme pressure playing in Toronto

William Nylander agrees with Matthew Tkachuk’s comment about pressure in Toronto. Florida Panthers' Tkachuk said the Maple Leafs players face extreme pressure playing in this city. He thinks the team might do better in a different market.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Nylander said Tkachuk’s words were comforting. He said the Leafs know they have a good team and love playing in Toronto.

"Yeah, I think that was nice of him to say. I mean, we know we have a good team. We love playing in Toronto." Nylander said [12:29].

Nylander added the market is bigger, but the team believes it can succeed.

"I mean, obviously the market's bigger here and it is what it is, but I believe that we will be able to get there." Nylander added.

Matthew Tkachuk made his comments after the Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers in round 2 of the playoffs.

William Nylander had a good 2024-25 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored 45 goals and 39 assists in the regular season for 84 points. In the playoffs, Nylander played 13 games.

He scored 6 goals and made 9 assists. He started strong with 3 points in the first game against Florida. Overall, he was one of the top players for Toronto this season.

Matthew Tkachuk's comments on Leafs playing under pressure

Matthew Tkachuk said he felt bad for the Leafs because of the “crazy circus stuff” in Toronto. He thinks the team would be better if it played somewhere else. Speaking on the "Spittin' Chiclets," with hosts Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney, Tkachuk talked about the pressure in Toronto.

"Sometimes you feel bad for [Leafs] because they have some unbelievable players and a great team," Tkachuk said. "I was actually saying this last night to some of the guys, if their team was not in Toronto dealing with all the crazy circus stuff outside of it, they'd be an unbelievable team and such a hard team to play.

"They just have so much to deal with and I feel bad. We don't have to deal with that in Florida, I feel like that's what makes me and my team so lucky," Tkachuk added.

Matthew Tkachuk and the Panthers won Game 7 against the Leafs 6-1 and have already defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.