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LONDON, Ont. - This is just the warm-up act for 18-year-old William Nylander. For the Maple Leafs top prospect, the player they selected with the eighth overall pick this past June, this weekends rookie tournament in London is simply the test run before his first NHL training camp gets underway next week. A long-shot to make the leap as a teenager, the slyly confident Nylander doesnt intend to temper his expectations. "My goals are always as high as possible," he said on the eve of the tournament. "Biggest goal is to try to take a spot on the NHL team." Toronto holds three options when it comes to the immediate future of Nylander, the first European prospect the team has picked with its first round pick since 2006; they can keep him in the NHL with the Leafs (delaying the decision for as many as nine games before a year of his entry-level contract kicks in); they can let him return to the Swedish Hockey League where he is a free agent; or they can assign him to the Marlies. Of the three, earning a spot with the NHL club would seem the least likely. "Hell definitely have a chance to make our team," general manager Dave Nonis said shortly after Nylander was selected at the 2014 draft in Philadelphia. "[But] I really dont care how skilled you are, its very difficult to make the NHL as an 18-year-old." Not only that, but the Leafs are loaded with depth at the forward position (nearly all of whom require waivers), adding the likes of Mike Santorelli, David Booth, Daniel Winnik, Leo Komarov, Petri Kontiola and Matt Frattin in the offseason. That leaves little room for Nylander to nudge his way into the lineup for head coach Randy Carlyle, who is under immense pressure to change fortunes after another late season collapse and is thus unlikely to lay his bets on an untested rookie. Even a jaw-dropping preseason might not be enough. Picked seventh overall in the 2009 draft, Nazem Kadri dazzled in his first exhibition roundabout later that fall, amassing three goals and five points in six preseason games before being promptly returned to the junior ranks in London. "Nazem is going to be a superstar in this league – we honestly believe that," then-Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said at the time. "We want him to go back to the OHL and absolutely dominate the league there." Nylander wont be going to junior. Though he was selected by the Mississauga Steelheads with the 13th pick in the CHL import draft, the Calgary-born Nylander made clear Friday that such a route is not in his plans. The Leafs, for their part, intend to take a wait-and-see approach with their top prospect, gauging where his development is best served at training camp - which begins in Toronto on Thursday. As was eventually demonstrated with Kadri - who spent parts of three seasons in the AHL - patience and prudence is probably their best course, leaving the Marlies or Swedish League as the two likeliest options. Like their current No. 2 centre, Nylanders skill-set isnt really in question. Nonis described him as boasting "NHL speed, NHL hands, an NHL shot right now," wondering "whether or not the rest of his game can catch up." That would include his physical frame, noticeably slight at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, and thus unlikely to be ready for the nightly tests of Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber (Nylander spent 22 games in the Swedish Hockey League as a 17-year-old last season, mustering a single goal and seven points). Nylander must also quickly readjust to the North American sized rink, having spent his formative years playing on the bigger ice in Sweden, and then subsequently learn the finer details of the NHL game (a lengthy process for any young player). "His skill probably speaks for itself and that might separate him from other guys out there," said Marlies coach Gord Dineen. "But theres the culture shock of coming over to North America, playing in a different rink … Well see how it goes. I think everybody has to be patient." The rookie tournament has proven a springboard of sorts in the past for a handful of Leaf prospects. Viktor Stalberg, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly most recently, were among those that separated themselves from the competition at the event before doing the same at NHL training camp - all three, however, were older than Nylander, who turned 18 in May. Like Rielly a year ago, Nylander may play in only one of the three exhibition tilts - he is scheduled to suit up in the tournament opener against Chicago on Saturday. "Hes going to be a guy that gets a good look at the Leaf camp," said Dineen. "We know his capabilities. 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