According to Box to Box Films co-founder Paul Martin, whose company is producing the series, Nylander was one of the first players to be approached about starring in it dating back to the NHL All-Star game in early February. The 28-year-old jumped at the opportunity and said he has no regrets.
“I grew up in Sweden watching documentaries about hockey and learning things about players and the games I didn’t know,” Nylander said during Amazon Prime’s press conference announcing the series on Monday. “I loved those things. So, when given the chance to be part of one, I was in.
“It gives people an inside look at the players.”
Like, for example, Nylander’s seemingly heated exchange with teammate Mitch Marner during the Maple Leafs Stanley Cup First Round series against the Bruins in April, one that had Marner chucking his gloves in frustration.
After telling Marner to “stop whining bro,” a mic’d up Nylander told him to “just (bleepin’) shoot it.”
The incident blew up into a full-blown controversy in Toronto, as such hockey incidents frequently do. The irony: minutes after the final horn sounded, the cameras captured Nylander inside the Maple Leafs dressing room saying they’d already put it behind them.
“We’re all friends here working for the same thing,” he said.
Nylander hopes it's these types of scenes that will give fans a better understanding of their hockey heroes.
“I think everyone is going to see a side of the players they don’t see every day,” he told reporters. “How much preparation and sacrifice that goes into a full season and playoffs is really on display, but also you’ll get a taste of what’s important to each of us away from the ice.”
In Nylander’s case, that includes the longstanding friendship between he and Pastrnak, one that dates back to when they first became teammates with Sodertalje Jr. of the Swedish junior league in 2012-13. Pastrnak, a native of Czechia, was a teenager at the time and credits Nylander with helping him acclimatize to a new country, language and culture when he first came to Sweden to develop his game.
“It was awesome,” Pastrnak told NHL.com last month at the NHL European Player Media Tour in Prague. “Obviously when I came to Sweden, he was the star there, you know. And very super talented.”
When he first arrived in Sweden, Pastrnak said he played a level below Nylander. That didn’t last long.
“He was way better than me at the time,” Pastrnak said. “He was super cool. Then we met. Obviously, my English wasn’t great so we couldn’t talk much. But he was very helpful, trying to help me with English every time, and Swedish and stuff.
“Eventually I moved up to play with him. We obviously weren’t talking much at the time, but we let our play do the talking for us. And I think that’s when we became much closer friends, when we started playing together and liked it.
“We had really good chemistry.”
More than a decade later, both have become NHL stars for their respective teams. Given their relationship, then, Episode 1 is fittingly entitled “Best of Rivals,” spotlighting the Bruins seven-game elimination of the Maple Leafs this past spring.
Asked if there was anything he didn’t like about the episode, Nylander said “only the ending,” referring to his team’s defeat at the hands of the Bruins.
He then broke out into a huge smile.
If the entire series is anything like Episode 1, inquisitive hockey fans will be doing the same.
