How DeBrincat's new contract impacts the Leafs and William Nylander
Last year's "Summer of Pierre" has lead to this year's "Summer of despair" for the Ottawa Senators. Just one year after acquiring Alex DeBrincat for the 7th and 39th overall picks in the 2023 draft, as well as a 2024 third rounder, the high scoring winger will now be wearing the winged wheel in Detroit. The return? A conditional first, a 2024 4th along with Doninik Kubalik and prospect Donavan Sobrango. Disappointing for the Sens to say the least. The trade itself may have an effect on William Nylander's trade value, but the contract DeBrincat signed has definitely hurt Nylander's asking price.
As players, DeBrincat and Nylander are extremely close comparables in terms of value. DeBrincat is a 2 time 40 goal scorer, Nylander scored 40 for the first time last season. Nylander is a career .825 points per game player, DeBrincat is .828ppg over his career. DeBrincat is also 2 years younger than Nylander. Both players are offence first, and neither bring any notable level of physicality to the table. Skilled players that put the puck in the net, but don't bring much else to the table.
Here's where they differ. With one year left on his current contract, Nylander is not budging off of his asking price of over $10M per season. DeBrincat just signed a 4 year deal paying him $7.875M per season. DeBrincat's deal will absolutely be used as a comparable by Brad Treliving and company as they try to hammer out an extension for their Swedish star.
Clearly, the market for players like DeBrincat and Nylander has softened. If Nylander and his agent, Lewis Gross, have any sense, they'll come off of their sky high asking price and settle for a reasonable, but still lucrative deal that works for both camps and keeps Willy Styles in the blue and white for a long, long time.
| POLL | ||
10 JUILLET | 692 ANSWERS How DeBrincat's new contract impacts the Leafs and William Nylander Should Nylander's ask go down in light of the DeBrincat deal? | ||
| It should, but it won't | 348 | 50.3 % |
| Yes, he'll sign a reasonable deal | 95 | 13.7 % |
| Trade him now | 173 | 25 % |
| He needs to fire Lewis Gross first | 76 | 11 % |
| List of polls | ||
