On his 29th birthday, William Nylander was reportedly close to being held out of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup due to a game sheet issue.
Ahead of Game 6 against the Ottawa Senators, the Maple Leafs inserted Alex Nylander, William’s brother, on the game sheet instead of the 29-year-old. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, NHL officials caught this before the game began, allowing Nylander to play.
If an official hadn’t caught the mistake before the game started, there would’ve been a chance that Nylander wouldn’t have been able to play.
Per rule 5.1 in the NHL’s rulebook: “Prior to the game, if an official (on-ice or off-ice) notices that a player is in uniform but has not been included on the submitted lineup, the Referee shall bring this to the attention of the offending team so that the necessary correction can be made to the Official Game Report with no penalty assessed.”
Below is rule 5.2 of the rulebook, which is what could’ve happened to Nylander had the officials missed it.
“Only players on the submitted line-up before the game may participate in the game. The determining factor when considering whether or not a player is eligible is that the player’s name, and not necessarily the player’s number, must be correctly listed by the Manager or Coach of that team,” the rulebook states.
“Whenever an ineligible player is identified to the Referee, the ineligible player will be removed from the game and the Club shall not be able to substitute another player from its roster. No additional penalties are to be assessed but a report of the incident must be submitted to the Commissioner.”
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Nylander had an assist on Auston Matthews’ power play goal in the first period of Game 6. His sixth assist of the series came on Toronto’s first power play goal in an elimination game in 30 opportunities.
The forward also scored 43 seconds into the second period against Ottawa after intercepting the puck at the offensive blue line. It was Nylander’s second goal of the series, after scoring in Game 1 on Apr. 20.
WILLIAM NYLANDER 🚨
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! pic.twitter.com/lSNomT9W51
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) May 2, 2025
Nylander has eight points — two goals and six assists — through six games in the Battle of Ontario. He scored a career-high 45 goals in 82 games this season.
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