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The Maple Leafs needed their best players to step up on Thursday night in order to avoid a Game 7 showdown with the Senators. That included William Nylander, who did exactly that but was almost ineligible to play due to an oversight that led to his brother being listed on the roster card Toronto submitted before the game.
Most NHL fans are very familiar with the issues the Maple Leafs have dealt with in the playoffs over the past decade. The team has made the postseason seven times since 2017, but it’s been eliminated in the first round on six of those occasions.
Toronto was obviously hoping to avoid that fate after punching its ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and getting matched up with the Senators for the fifth postseason iteration of the Battle of Alberta, a series of series where Ottawa had failed to win a single one heading into the newest.
The Maple Leafs pulled out of a 3-0 lead after things got underway last month, but the Senators managed to make things interesting by winning the next two games.
There was subsequently a ton of pressure on Toronto when they head into enemy territory for Game 6 on Thursday, as a loss would force a deciding contest with the potential to spawn an infinitely embarrassing outcome for a team that boasts a talented core of players with a reputation for choking once the playoffs roll around.
Thankfully, Toronto was spared that fate by clinching the series with a 4-2 win to earn the right to face off against the Panthers in the second round. William Nylander was named the first star after tallying two goals and an assist on his 29th birthday, and he was responsible for the gritty empty-netter that sealed the deal in the final minute of the third period.
However, it turns out Nylander was almost ineligible to play in the contest thanks to a fairly excusable error that transpired before the puck dropped.
Nylander’s younger brother Alex is currently a member of the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate, and most recently appeared in an NHL game in December at the end of a five-game stretch with the big boys.
However, Alex is apparently still in the computer system the Maple Leafs use to submit their official lineup ahead of each game, and according to Steve Warne of The Hockey News, his name—not William’s—ended up on the roster card ahead of Game 6 before the oversight was corrected in the nick of time after the officials were kind enough to give Toronto a heads-up.
That’s crazy. @FriedgeHNIC reports that William Nylander wasn’t on the Leafs roster tonight. They mixed him up with his brother. But officials caught it and let the Leafs know, which they’re apparently allowed to do. If they hadn’t, William could have been removed from the game.
— Steve Warne (@SteveWarneMedia) May 1, 2025
The Athletic asserts someone affiliated with the Maple Leafs was actually responsible for pointing out the mistake (which reeks of damage control planted by an internal source trying to save some face), but regardless of what actually went down, Toronto is obviously very glad it was corrected thanks to the impact the correct Nylander ended up having.