Per an NHL Insider, there's a third option for William Nylander, but Leaf fans may not like it
With the July 1st date having passed, Auston Matthews and William Nylander are now eligible to sign their contract extensions in Toronto. Most of the trusted insiders have mentioned that neither Matthews nor Nylander would be in any rush to announce a deal on July 1st or in the week that followed, but many have also expressed publicly that there's very little doubt that Matthews will re-sign and that he'll become the highest paid player in the NHL when he does decide to put pen to paper. Nylander, however, is a bit of a different story.
Recent reports have suggested that while the Leafs have Nylander pegged in the $8M-$8.9M range, Nylander views himself somewhere in the $10M+ range. Almost everyone is in agreement that Nylander is probably pretty close to a $10M player. However, with the Leafs already employing three $11M players, they simply cannot afford to pay another player an 8-figure salary if they wish to remain contenders.
On Tuesday morning, TSN's Chris Johnston hopped on TSN 1050's First Up with Aaron Korolnek and Carlo Colaiacovo to talk about the Leafs and, of course, the Nylander situation. Johnston pitched the idea that maybe the Leafs will have to consider holding onto Nylander and playing out the year, even if he doesn't sign an extension this summer, as much as that might pain some Leaf fans to hear.
"I think it has to be considered a possibility, because you don't want to paint yourself into a corner where you're saying 'we either need to sign him or trade him', because let's face it - whether or not he signs, I think there's going to have to be some concessions on both sides of the table to make that happen... You also can't say 'well, if he doesn't sign, we're going to trade him', because you shouldn't make a bad trade either. At worst, William Nylander is a pretty high-end forward for the Leafs for next year. I do think, while that's certainly not the preferred outcome that I think either side should want, it does loom as a possibility if they're not able to get together on a contract.
I don't really know where this one's going yet. I think it's still, in some ways, early days on the discussions, but the Leafs probably do have to consider bringing him back, even if he's on an expiring deal, as an option because I don't know what the trade market would look like and they still intend to try to win the Stanley Cup next season. It's a tough spot in some ways because you know that, internally, they're thinking they don't want to put themselves in a position where they may be losing him for nothing, but maybe that's what it's going to take." - Chris Johnston on the idea of simply allowing Nylander to play out the last remaining year on his deal if no contract extension is agreed to this summer
I don't really know where this one's going yet. I think it's still, in some ways, early days on the discussions, but the Leafs probably do have to consider bringing him back, even if he's on an expiring deal, as an option because I don't know what the trade market would look like and they still intend to try to win the Stanley Cup next season. It's a tough spot in some ways because you know that, internally, they're thinking they don't want to put themselves in a position where they may be losing him for nothing, but maybe that's what it's going to take." - Chris Johnston on the idea of simply allowing Nylander to play out the last remaining year on his deal if no contract extension is agreed to this summer
Johnston also mentioned that there are some instances where star players have played the final year of their deals without an extension only to turn around and re-sign with the team either in season or following the expiration of their contract. Steven Stamkos and David Pastrnak are good examples of this. Johnston also mentioned that things can go in a different direction, as we saw with Johnny Gaudreau last summer.
I don't know if there's an appetite in Toronto to take that risk, to be entirely honest. I think in other markets, that might be okay, but in a hockey hot bed like Toronto, where the media scrutiny is amplified, there may not be a scenario in which it makes sense to retain Nylander without a deal in place for next season. Either way, we'll see how this thing develops.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 4 | 1212 ANSWERS Per an NHL Insider, there's a third option for William Nylander, but Leaf fans may not like it What is your desired outcome in the William Nylander saga? | ||
| Pay him | 209 | 17.2 % |
| Trade him | 763 | 63 % |
| Allow him to play out the final year of his deal | 240 | 19.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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