Why Maple Leafs' William Nylander Was Named One Of First Six Players To Sweden's 2026 Olympic Roster

Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander will compete with Team Sweden in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The 29-year-old was one of six players named to Sweden's roster on Monday morning. Among the other names on the list were Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, L.A. Kings forward Adrian Kempe, Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.

This will be Nylander's first-ever Olympic appearance. This will be the first time the NHL participate in the Olympics since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. The Maple Leafs drafted Nylander fourth overall in the NHL Draft that same year.

The 2026 games are set to be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The Swedish forward last represented his home country at the 2025 IIHF World Championships, where Sweden defeated Denmark 6-2 to secure a third-place finish. Nylander had one goal in three games after joining Sweden late in the tournament.

He's represented his home country four times now at the Worlds. In 2017 and 2019, Nylander led the tournament in points, helping lead Sweden to gold and winning the tournament's Most Valuable Player honors in 2017. He has 38 points — 16 goals and 22 assists — in 24 games at the tournament.

In February, months before the World Championships, Nylander played at the 4 Nations Face-Off with Sweden. Nylander scored two assists in three games while wearing an 'A' on his jersey for the tournament.

This past season in the NHL was a career year for Nylander. He set a new career-high with 45 games, the most on the Maple Leafs in the regular season, and the second-most in the NHL, behind Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who scored 52.

Toronto played 13 games in these playoffs, falling to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the second round. Nylander appeared in every game for the Maple Leafs, scoring six goals and nine assists for 15 points, a team-high in the postseason.

Canada and the United States will likely reveal the first six players of their Olympic rosters later on Monday.

Auston Matthews, who was named captain of Team USA at the 4 Nations, could likely be one of the players announced to the United States' roster. The 27-year-old, amidst an injury-riddled season, scored three assists in as many games, losing in the tournament final to Canada in overtime.

Toronto forward Mitch Marner, expected to hit free agency on July 1, could be named to Canada's Olympic roster. The 28-year-old had one goal and two assists in four games, scoring an overtime-winner against Sweden, before setting Connor McDavid up for the championship-winning goal against the United States.

Twelve countries will participate in the tournament, which gets underway on Feb. 6, 2026: Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, and Switzerland.