Insider believes that the Nylander move to center corresponds with a move to bring in a star winger
Back at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the Leafs selected a young Swedish winger by the name of William Nylander with their 1st round pick (8th overall). At the time, Nylander was a center, but when he joined the Leafs organization, he was immediately transitioned over the to wing.
This offseason, the Leafs' brass had gotten together and decided that they wanted to give Nylander a run at center this year. The move initially seemed like an odd one after Nylander had produced a career-best 40 goals and 87 points last season on the wing. So why, then, is the change occurring now? One NHL Insider proposed a very interesting theory on Monday.
During an appearance on TSN Radio on Monday, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger hypothesized that the shift to center for Willy may correspond with another possible move for the Leafs:
Dreger making this about Kane may be nothing more than him fishing for interactions. However, we do know that Kane is in Toronto for at least the next month. We also know that he has been in Toronto for awhile now, rehabbing his surgically repaired hip. We know that Kane and Auston Matthews had expressed, in the past, a desire to play together. We also know that Kane wants to join a contending team. There are too many wires to connect here for this to all be pure coincidence, right?
Obviously, the cap space is an issue. However, trading Calle Jarnkrok and his $2.1M AAV may open up some doors for the Leafs here. If Kane waits until November when he turns 35, he will be eligible to sign a 35+ contract, meaning he can sign a league minimum deal for $775K this year and the bonus overages won't hit the Leafs' cap until next year when the salary cap is expected to make a huge jump. Also, who would you prefer on your team between Jarnkrok and Kane? Yeah. It's a no-brainer.
If the Leafs were to offer Kane a 1-year deal, worth $775K, they could then tack on, say, three $1M bonuses - one for playing 50 games, one for scoring 20 goals, and one for the Leafs making the playoffs. These are all very realistic markers for Kane and would all but guarantee him an extra $3M. The Leafs would then save $1.325M in salary this season, which benefits the team greatly, at the expense of losing some cap space next summer.
Potential Lines if Kane were to be added by the Leafs
If the Leafs did, in fact, sign Kane to a 1-year deal this fall, it would allow them to ice a very, very deep roster at forward, with multiple legitimate scoring threats on each of the top 3 lines.
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner
Knies-Tavares-Kane
Domi-Nylander-Robertson
Reaves-Kampf-Lafferty
Is Dreger connecting Kane to Toronto just to connect them? Or is he connecting them because there are some with whom he has spoken who have told him that this is a legitimate possibility?
Time will tell how this all develops, but if the Leafs were to pull off such a deal to move Jarnkrok and free up the space to add Kane in November on a short-term deal, it would certainly make them the Stanley Cup favourites to be coming out of the Eastern Conference. It might actually make them the overall Cup favourites, if we're being entirely honest.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 26 | 1168 ANSWERS Insider believes that the Nylander move to center corresponds with a move to bring in a star winger Is Nylander's move to center actually about signing Patrick Kane to play on the wing in Toronto? | ||
| Yes | 350 | 30 % |
| No | 398 | 34.1 % |
| I'd love to see it, but it won't happen | 420 | 36 % |
| List of polls | ||
