Insider Reveals Untold Argument Between William Nylander and Former Coach
William Nylander is one of, if not the most polarizing player in the NHL. His dynamic skill set allows him to produce massive numbers and make it look relatively easy in the process. On the flip side, his nonchalant effort can often be frustrating, particularly for his coaches, given how bad it looks when it comes back to bite him.
It’s quite similar to that of former Maple Leaf Phil Kessel, who was never going to change his ways, and you just had to live with the good and the bad. Nylander is very much that way, and on Friday, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman revealed an interesting story about a testy argument he had with former head coach Sheldon Keefe during the time that Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ documentary was being filmed.
Friedman said:
“In the first Amazon they did, the series, the All or Nothing. There was a scene in their that the Leafs, and the NHLPA, and his agent all fought to have taken out. And that wasn’t supposed to happen, it wasn’t supposed to happen, everybody was supposed to be like it’s there, you have to say yes. But the Leafs, the Players Association, and the Agent, it was an argument between Keefe and Nylander, and those three felt strongly it made Nylander look bad. And initially, Amazon fought it; they’re like Nope. But they put up such a stink that eventually they won their way,”
The 29-year-old Nylander is off to the best start of his career in 2025-26, having already racked up 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in just 20 games.
William Nylander is No Stranger to Exchanges with a Coach
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to hear that Nylander and Keefe had their runs during their time together in Toronto.
In fact, we just saw it firsthand as Nylander and current head coach Craig Berube got into it during the third period of Wednesday night’s game in Columbus after the star winger didn’t give much of an effort during a late-game power play.
Of course, Nylander came back the next shift, set up Easton Cowan’s game-tying goal, and then won it himself in overtime with a smooth cross-body wrister that fooled Jet Greaves. It was an absolute classic Nylander performance where he looked lackadaisical all night, and all of a sudden flipped a switch and led his team to victory.
He can be a coach’s nightmare at times, but his talent often outweighs it, and that’s why he’s one of the best wingers in the game.
Will Borgen’s continued Rangers injury absence forces Mike Sullivan to keep shuffling
As the Rangers took on the Bruins Friday afternoon, Will Borgen missed his fifth straight game due to an upper-body injury.
The 28-year-old defenseman, who was placed on injured reserve this past weekend, has now been sidelined in seven of the Blueshirts’ last eight contests.
As a result, Scott Morrow drew back into the Rangers lineup for the fourth time this season.
The rookie blueliner skated on the third pairing alongside Matthew Robertson, while the top four of Vladislav Gavrikov-Adam Fox and Carson Soucy-Braden Schneider remained intact.
That bumped Urho Vaakanainen from the defense, making the Finn a healthy scratch for the eighth time this season.
Vaakanainen missed two other games with a lower-body injury earlier this month.
Head coach Mike Sullivan opted to make one tweak to the top six, swapping J.T. Miller and Will Cuylle.
New York Rangers defenseman Will Borgen (17) skates with the puck in the second period against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in New York, NY.
The Rangers captain lined up on the top unit next to Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere.
Cuylle then slotted on the wing of Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin.
Conor Sheary, who appeared in the first 24 consecutive games, was a healthy scratch for the second straight matchup.
In his 20th start of the season, Igor Shesterkin stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced in his 10th victory.
With Jonathan Quick unavailable on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, Sullivan wouldn’t say if rookie goalie Dylan Garand would play in the second game of the back-to-back Saturday afternoon against the Lightning at Madison Square Garden.
New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan reacts on the bench during the first period.
“We’ll take each day as it comes,” Sullivan said.
The Rangers faced a shorthanded Bruins team Friday afternoon at TD Garden.
David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Pavel Zacha and Matej Blumel were all out.
Though Pastrnak and Zacha are considered day-to-day, Blumel is expected to be sidelined long term.
After taking on Tampa, the Rangers will have the day off on Sunday.
They are back in action on Tuesday night against the Stars at the Garden.
