William Nylander was absent for Auston Matthews' captaincy press conference and now we know why

While not an official member of the primary leadership group of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was still a bit surprising to see a key member of the Core 4 absent from Auston Matthews' introduction as the 26th Leafs captain on Wednesday.

As he always does, Nylander has spent much of the off-season in Sweden before returning to Toronto and this summer has been no different.

On Wednesday, he and his brother, Alex Nylander, took part in a launch event for Stockholm-based 'GOATLANE' golf apparel at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club, as reported by Evan Doerfler of The Hockey News. Simply put, it would have been difficult for Nylander to be on two different continents at once.

The event was planned prior to the announcement on Monday from TSN's Darren Dreger, which confirmed that the Leafs' captaincy would be changing hands just two days later during an official press conference on Wednesday. With a prior commitment already having been made, Nylander could not travel back to Toronto in time -- understandably so.

Nylander has had quite the summer travelling, training, golfing and enjoying some down time with his dogs. After a career-best season where he posted 40 goals and 98 points that earned him an 8-year extension, Nylander will look to replicate those numbers when he returns to Toronto in the coming weeks.

Source: PuckPedia
William Nylander player profile