Insider Jeff O’Neill Delivers Blunt Message To Maple Leafs’ William Nylander

Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jeff O’Neil is now a broadcaster across multiple platforms, including the The Sports Network where appears on Maple Leafs broadcasts and TSN Hockey programs.

He’s not shy about voicing his fandom of the club that he briefly spent a portion of his NHL career with, and his most recent comments caught more than a few by surprise.

When discussing the 2026 Milan Olympics on Tuesday’s edition of TSN OverDrive with co-hosts Jamie McLennan and Bryan Hayes, O’Neill bluntly said that if Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is risking his health to compete for Team Sweden, he should just return to Toronto.

“I would tell him to get his a– home. It’s over,” O’Neill said. “If there was kind of any question, I would just say, ‘You’re done.’”

Right now, Nylander has been designated as a game-time decision for Sweden’s first game against Italy.

Nylander also has been anything but fully healthy for the Maple Leafs this season, having twice missed six straight games with a groin injury that was later re-aggravated.

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Toronto Maple Leafs Forward William Nylander Has Been Anything But Healthy This Season

The Maple Leafs, who have badly struggled with consistency this season in what is their first campaign in a decade without the services of forward Mitch Marner, have often missed Nylander in the lineup.

He missed six games earlier this season because of a groin injury, and was later forced to miss multiple games yet again after he unfortunately re-aggravated the ailment.

In the mind of O’Neill, the prospect of Nylander playing for Team Sweden in the Olympics isn’t worth the harm that it could potentially bring him that would also by effect alter Toronto’s season.

“If he grinds it out, makes it worse, and then comes back and can’t go for the Leafs, that’s a problem,” O’Neill said.

However, Hayes seemed to take the side of Nylander in the debate.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to Nylander,” Hayes said. “If he wants to risk it playing for Team Sweden, there’s not much Toronto can do.”

“He’s too important to Sweden,” Hayes continued. “He knows that. There’s going to be pressure from inside that group to get him playing.” If he feels like he can go, it’s fair to assume that Nylander is going to push it.”

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William Nylander Has Not Skated Since Arriving In Milan

While Nylander was a natural choice to be named to the Swedish roster for the Olympics, there was immediate concern as he didn’t join his teammates for practice.

According to the latest update from Swedish head coach Sam Hallam following a recent practice, Nylander’s absence is due to “maintenance”.

“It’s a maintenance thing,” he said. “He’s done two full ice practices with us and felt, after yesterday, a bit sore, so we’ll just give him an extra day. And then we’ll see for tomorrow if he’s ready to go. It’s going to be a pretty late decision.”

In the 40 games Nylander has played this season, he’s tallied 18 goals while adding 34 assists, and is also a plus-two.

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