William Nylander wins gold medal and MVP at World Championships

William Nylander added one final ‘golden’ moment to what has been a phenomenal season for the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

William Nylander was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 IIHF World Championships on Sunday after Sweden won the gold medal with a dramatic 2-1 shootout victory over Canada. He also provided hockey fans with one of the more memorable on-ice celebrations when he tackled goalie Henrik Lundqvist after he made the game-winning save.

And here’s another angle of Nylander’s epic tackle on Lundqivst.

The 21-year-old forward finished the tournament with seven goals and 14 points in 10 games and produced a couple of highlight reel plays during the tournament, like this ridiculous falling down breakaway goal against Switzerland in the quarterfinals.

Overall, Nathan MacKinnon, Artemi Panarin and Nikita Kucherov all finished the tournament with more points than Nylander, but the difference is Nylander led Sweden to their first gold medal in four years, which certainly carries weight when determining an MVP.

For Toronto Maple Leafs fans, the gold medal game was bittersweet. On one side you had Nylander celebrating gold, while on the other you had Mitch Marner and his Canadian teammates dejected with their disappointing loss.

Marner had a great tournament, however, finishing with four goals and eight assists, and also added a couple of highlight reel moments of his own, like this filthy toe drag goal against Finland.

Despite Canada losing, you have to be pleased with how this tournament unfolded if you’re a fan of the Maple Leafs. Both Nylander and Marner put on a show, and they perhaps gave fans a glimpse of what’s to come next season.

Next: Examining the Maple Leafs' centre problem

How do you think William Nylander and Mitch Marner played at the World Championships? Are you even more excited for next season now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.