How long is William Nylander out? Injury timeline, return date, latest updates on Leafs star's mysterious ailment

For the entirety of the regular season, there was only one Maple Leafs player who remained healthy and played in all 82 games — William Nylander.

But now that the calendar has turned to the postseason, a mysterious ailment is plaguing the Toronto winger.

Nylander was a surprise scratch to start the Leafs’ first-round series against the Bruins. He appeared to be perfectly healthy when the final buzzer rang on Toronto’s regular-season finale, but just three days later, he was not in the lineup for Saturday’s Game 1 contest, a 5-1 win on home ice for Boston.

In the NHL, coaching staffs are fickle enough when it comes to injured players, but it takes on an entirely different form come playoff time. While hockey players are known for powering through even the toughest of ailments, sometimes one simply cannot go, and that seems to be the case with Nylander.

What exactly is the injury bugging the Maple Leafs star? The Sporting News has the latest updates and status for Nylander.

MORE: Bruins vs. Maple Leafs series schedule, channels, results

What is William Nylander’s injury?

The nature of Nylander’s injury remains unclear.

Nylander played in Toronto’s final regular season game on April 17 without issue, but he was not seen at practice Friday. Ahead of Game 1 against the Bruins, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that he was instructed by general manager Brad Treliving not to give out any updates on injuries during the postseason.

“[Treliving] has made it pretty clear to me that there will not be daily injury updates or anything like that,” Keefe said ahead of Game 1.

With no updates coming from Nylander or the Toronto coaching staff, fans are left to speculate what the exact injury is.

The Athletic’s Chris Johnston made a couple of observations when watching Nylander skate ahead of Monday night’s Game 2 in Boston. Here were his notes on how the Maple Leafs winger appeared:

“Nylander looked to be laboring, especially early in the session, and misfired entirely on a couple of shot attempts while the ice sheet was still freshly resurfaced,” Johnston wrote Sunday. “He wasn’t moving with his normal fluidity and frequently hunched over while regrouping along the boards between drills. He had Giordano feed him passes to practice one-timers and went through a series of puck-touch drills under the supervision of assistant coaches Manny Malhotra and Dean Chynoweth.”

NHL PLAYOFFS: FULL BRACKET | SCHEDULE | PREDICTIONS

How long is William Nylander out?

With Keefe and the Toronto staff giving vague answers on Nylander’s status, it is unclear when he is expected to return. With that said, Keefe did not rule out the possibility of the winger playing Monday night for Game 2.

“We’ll see how he feels here the rest of the day here and make a decision,” Keefe said on Monday.

William Nylander is taking part in the morning skate at TD Garden before Game 2. pic.twitter.com/nASPrLwfIZ

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 22, 2024

William Nylander staying out late with other projected scratches

All signs point to him missing Game 2 @TSN_Edge

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 22, 2024

Nylander did not participate in the full practice Monday, rotating in occasionally in the line rushes. But he was spotted with the rest of the presumed scratches getting in some work after the conclusion of the session.

Bruins vs. Maple Leafs schedule, scores, results

Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 are scheduled to be played at TD Garden in Boston. The series will shift to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for Games 3, 4 and 6.

Here is the full schedule for the first-round series:

Date	Game	Time (ET)/Result	TV/Live stream
April 20	Game 1	Bruins 5, Maple Leafs 1	TBS, Sling
April 22	Game 2	7 p.m.	ESPN, Fubo
April 24	Game 3	7 p.m.	ESPN, Fubo
April 27	Game 4	8 p.m.	TBS, Sling
April 30	Game 5*	TBD	TBD
May 2	Game 6*	TBD	TBD
May 4	Game 7*	TBD	TBD