Leafs’ William Nylander threatens teammate Auston Matthews

On Wednesday, ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs facing the Wild later tonight, Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin, who is also the GM for Team USA at the Four Nations Face-Off, confirmed that Auston Matthews is ready to play in the upcoming tournament.

After the Leafs’ practice, forward William Nylander, who will represent Sweden at the Four Nations Face-Off, spoke with reporters and had a fun answer when asked was asked if there were any side bets with his own teammate Matthews during the tournament.

Nylander claims that he told Matthews the two might end up fighting.

“No, not yet, but I was telling Matty (Auston Matthews) I might drop the gloves,” Nylander threatened in a joking manner. 

Both Maple Leafs forwards were named to their respective national teams last summer as part of the ‘first six’ which speaks to their elite level of play.

It was however touch and go for Matthews, who missed 15 games this season due to a lingering upper-body injury. Despite that absence, the Maple Leafs captain has recorded 20 goals and added 18 assists this season.

Mitch Marner was also named to the Canadian team and defenseman Jani Hakanpaa was named to Finland. Blue liner Christ Tanev is a possibility to be named to Canada as a replacement for Alex Pietrangelo, who opted out of the tournament earlier in the week.

The NHL is hosting a best-on-best tournament for the first time since their World Cup tournament in 2016, and this time it will feature Canada, United States, Sweden and Finland.

And maybe a fight and more jokes between the two Maple Leafs’ star teammates.