Toronto Maple Leafs fans were abuzz this morning as reports seemingly came out of every corner of the hockey world concerning William Nylander’s imminent signing. There were those who had apparently spoken directly to Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, and others who just put out unconfirmed rumors that they’d heard. Venerable insider Bob McKenzie of TSN quickly threw some cold water—perhaps a whole ocean’s worth—on those rumors, explaining that nothing in fact was imminent though negotiations continue between the two sides.
So now just one week remains before a December 1st deadline which would make Nylander ineligible to play anywhere in the NHL this season. The Maple Leafs do still have time to get a deal done with their young restricted free agent, and head coach Mike Babcock certainly seemed optimistic when asked today by reporters including Chris Johnston of Sportsnet:
I’m confident, hopeful. I mean Willy loves hockey. I know Willy good—he’s a great teammate and good person—and he loves hockey. He wants to play that.
But if there is still work to be done on a long-term contract, time is running out quickly. McKenzie suggests that there are two prevailing options, either signing a three-year bridge deal near $5MM per season, or a six-year deal near $7MM. Those are the kinds of numbers that have been speculated on over and over for the past few months, with no real information leaking out of either side. It seems no one really knows where the Maple Leafs and Nylander stand in negotiations, and in fact there are two (or even three) other options that the team could decide to use.
One is to trade Nylander in the next few days, though as it gets closer to the deadline that seems even more unlikely. The acquiring team would need to hammer out a contract of their own with the RFA, and as CapFriendly has explained it would likely come with an increased cap hit this season. That’s a tough thing for most teams to fit in right now, and they would be under a time crunch of their own. Still, if the Maple Leafs want to cash in on their asset for this season that might be the best way to do it if they can’t get a deal done.
The other option would be to stand their ground and just let the December 1st deadline to come and go. Nylander would be ineligible to play this season but he would gain little leverage in any negotiation for the future, and the Maple Leafs could potentially flip him at a later date. A non-playoff team might want to get him into their system even if he can’t play this season, and work under no deadlines to get him under contract.
It’s still not clear at all what will happen in Toronto, but as the Maple Leafs prepare to face the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening we ask you what you think. How will the Nylander saga end, or at least what will be the status of the young forward next weekend?
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Any team interested in acquiring him by trade would likely have already discussed his contract demands with that team. He is a free agent, teams don’t need permission to talk to him.
hes getting dealt. whether it is before December 01 or after, he has played his last game as a maple leaf.
I hope that’s the case also, I’m just sceptical of any return the Leafs would get in trade. It’ll be tough for them to win the deal.
Then they don’t make the deal. They don’t need to win…they just need fair value.
Don’t put it past Dubas to get a deal done. No one wants to come to Toronto for anything these days and somehow he comes in a and lands John Tavares! Nylander will play this season somewhere.
In the past players didn’t want to enter the pressure cooker, especially with bad management, but now, with the management team, the talent, development, and future potential, any reasonable player can see there’s a good chance to win a cup or two.
Just sit Nylander, Marner, and Matthews’s agents in a room and say “here’s 29million, you guys figure out how to share it”.
Do any of them get weapons?