Nylander and Pastrnak star in Prime Video's debut of “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL”

According to Paul Martin, co-founder of Box to Box Films, whose company produces the series, Nylander was one of the first players approached to play at 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 games that I didn't know,” Nylander said during Amazon Prime's press conference announcing the series on Monday. “I love those things, so when I got the chance to be part of one, I was in.”

“It gives people an insight into the lives of the players.”

Take, for example, Nylander's seemingly heated exchange with teammate Mitch Marner during the Maple Leafs' first-round Stanley Cup game against the Bruins in April, which saw Marner throw down his gloves in frustration.

After telling Marner to “stop whining, bro,” a microphone-equipped Nylander told him to “just (beep) shoot.”

The incident sparked a real controversy in Toronto, as such hockey incidents often do. The irony: Minutes after the final whistle sounded, cameras caught Nylander in the Maple Leafs' dressing room saying they had already put the matter behind them.

“We are all friends here and working for the same cause,” he said.

Nylander hopes that it is scenes like these that will give fans a better understanding of their hockey heroes.

“I think everyone will see a side of the players that they don't see every day,” he told reporters. “You can see the amount of preparation and sacrifice that goes into an entire season and the playoffs, but you also get a glimpse of what's important to each of us off the ice.”

In Nylander's case, that includes the long-standing friendship between him and Pastrnak, dating back to when they first became teammates at Södertälje Jr. in the Swedish junior league in 2012-13. Pastrnak, who hails from the Czech Republic, was a teenager at the time and credits Nylander for helping him adjust to a new country, language and culture when he first came to Sweden to develop his game.

“It was fantastic,” Pastrnak told NHL.com last month at the NHL European Player Media Tour in Prague. “When I came to Sweden, of course he was the star there. And super talented.”

When he first arrived in Sweden, Pastrnak said he was playing at a level below Nylander. That didn't last long.

“He was much better than me back then,” said Pastrnak. “He was super cool. Then we met. Of course, my English wasn't that good, so we couldn't talk much. But he was very helpful and always tried to help me with English and Swedish and stuff.”

“Eventually I moved up to play with him. Of course, we didn't talk much back then, but we let our game speak for itself. And I think from then on we became much closer friends as we started playing together and liked it.

“The chemistry between us was really good.”

More than a decade later, both have become NHL stars for their respective teams. Given their relationship, Episode 1 is aptly titled “Best of Rivals” and looks at the seven games in which the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs last spring.

When asked if there was anything he didn't like about the episode, Nylander said “just the ending,” referring to his team's loss to the Bruins.

Then his whole face lit up.

If the entire series is anything like Episode 1, curious hockey fans will do the same.