Toronto Maple Leafs cut William Nylander, waive three others

Sep 24, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Chris Phillips (4) defends against Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (62) at the Air Canada Centre. Ottawa defeated Toronto 4-3 in an overtime shoot-out. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 24, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Chris Phillips (4) defends against Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (62) at the Air Canada Centre. Ottawa defeated Toronto 4-3 in an overtime shoot-out. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have cut William Nylander and three others

As the season has grown closer, everyone has spent waaayyyy too much time speculating on whether or not the team’s youngest prospects would make starting rosters.

The Arizona Coyotes had previously held the record for most shocking cuts, when they reassigned both Max Domi and Henrik Samuelsson to the OHL and AHL, respectively. Then, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that William Nylander was heading back to the juniors, as well.

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According to The Star, the Leafs have made four of the six necessary cuts they must make in order to get their roster down to regulation size. Three of those cuts were in the form of players placed on waivers, as Frazer McLaren, Colton Orr, and Korbinian Holzer are all anticipated to receive reassignment to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

The fourth cut, which will send prospect William Nylander elsewhere for the season, is a little bit less clear.

The team had already been speculating about where William Nylander would spend his first season, assuming he didn’t make the club straight out of his first training camp. I, personally, thought that he looked good enough to fool a desperate Maple Leafs into placing him straight on the roster- but it seems that the team is exercising caution with their brightest young prospect, and encouraging him (well, forcing him) to play elsewhere.

The Star has reported that the team has yet to release where William Nylander will play this upcoming season. He has two options- he could play in the major juniors for an additional two years, although he has yet to play for an OHL club in the past. He could also head back to Sweden, though, and play in either the Allsvenskan or Swedish Hockey League. This would cause him to miss out on a year of familiarizing himself with North American rink dimensions, but would give him the benefit of another season playing with adults instead of other teens.

Is it wrong to want to see him with Modo Hockey again? That club always cranks out superstars. Maybe that’s just me.

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