Latest report on William Nylander and the Leafs; it's not good news, unfortunately

During an appearance on the JD Bunkis Podcast on Sportsnet 590 The FAN, The Athletic's James Mirtle spoke with host JD Bunkis about how the Timo Meier contract (8 years at $8.8M per season) should impact the Nylander negotiations. Some are of the mindset that Nylander should be making less than Meier's $8.8M, while others believe that he should get more. According to Mirtle, however, Meier isn't the right comparable on Nylander and the Leafs should actually be using the Matthew Tkachuk deal as a firm line on where Nylander should land.

"Meier got less than I thought he was going to get. I thought for sure it started with a 9, so nice work by the Devils. It's interesting - you look at the comparables, look at the deal that Matt Tkachuk signed last year with Florida (8 years, $9.5M per season). Can you really argue that Nylander should get more than that, based on track record? Just look at the season that Tkachuk had. I don't think so. I think the right number for Nylander is under $9.5M, even with the cap going up."

Mirtle also suggested that Nylander's ask could be higher than $9.5M, which made Bunkis audibly gasp on the program and do a bit of a double-take. Mirtle did caution that nothing is coming out from the Leafs or from the Nylander camp, but did point out that if the reported ask from Nylander was in the $9.5M range, he feels like the two sides would be making solid progress, but according to the most recent reports, they're not. This leads us to believe that Nylander's ask likely starts with a 10, whereas the Leafs probably want his AAV to start with an 8.

Things are beginning to look pretty bleak for Nylander and his future in Toronto. Nylander's 10-team no-trade list kicks in tomorrow at noon.