Popular radio host goes on a rant about Nylander not understanding his real market value
Yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that they signed franchise center Sebastian Aho to an 8-year extension that will carry a cap hit of $9.75M per season. The extension is due to kick in during the 2024-25 season, as Aho was one year away from free agency. The signing of Aho has caused a lot of unrest in Toronto as Leaf fans await an announcement about a William Nylander signing, which won't happen if the he and the Leafs hold firm to their current positions - Nylander seeking more than $10M, with the Leafs offering a deal somewhere in the 8's.
The guys on TSN's OverDrive discussed the impact that Aho's extension should have on Nylander's contract talks on Thursday. During the discussion, host Bryan Hayes went on a bit of a rant about Nylander and how he needs to realize his true value and that centers and two-way players are simply more valuable and pure offensive wingers with not much else to offer.
"To be fair to Nylander, he has another year on a deal and he doesn't have to [sign now], but neither did Aho. Nylander is a very good player, but centers are more valuable, two-way players are more valuable... He's not a better player than Aho. Aho is a number one center... There's certain things that lead to more money in this league and being a number one center is as much value as you can have on the negotiating table.
How about the guy that retired [on Tuesday]? Willy had way more points than him. Who on earth thinks that Willy is a better player than Patrice Bergeron?! He's been a really good Leaf, they've made it clear they wanna keep him. I would assume he wants to stay... but it's not just about him." - Bryan Hayes on Nylander
Near the end of Hayes' rant, co-host and former Leaf Frankie Corrado also weighed in with a very stern take saying, "I look at the number now. How is it not $9.5M? Any more and they're asking for too much money. That's it now, it's $9.5M at the most."
While Hayes and Corrado make very good points, Nylander has a history of not listening to what others have to say and blocking the outside noise. While Nylander should be a Leaf next season, if progress isn't made by a certain point, you can bet that Brad Treliving will look to deal the 27-year-old to avoid replaying the Johnny Gaudreau situation that he experienced last off-season.
POLL |
JUILLET 27 | 963 ANSWERS Popular radio host goes on a rant about Nylander not understanding his real market value Would you rather have William Nylander or Sebastian Aho on your roster if given the choice? |
Aho | 818 | 84.9 % |
Nylander | 145 | 15.1 % |
List of polls |
|
28 minutes ago | By Ryan Smitheram Outrage Very Apparent After Maple Leafs' Poor Handling of Auston Matthews Injury |
|
2 hours ago | By Mike Armenti Leafs' Ryan Reaves and Max Domi Show Their Christmas Spirit in Funny Instagram Post |
|
3 hours ago | By Ryan Smitheram Insider Provides Update on Playing Future of Former Leafs Defenseman John Klingberg |
|
13 hours ago | By Nick Matthews Former Maple Leafs Goalie Gets Into Bizarre Goalie Scrap |
|
17 hours ago | By Dean Chaudhry John Tavares Makes His Intentions With the Maple Leafs Very Clear |
|
19 hours ago | By Dean Chaudhry The Maple Leafs May Need to Have a Difficult Conversation With Auston Matthews |
|
22 hours ago | By Mike Armenti Two Popular Toronto Podcasters Let Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly Have It Amid Rough Stretch |
|
Dec 22 | By Mike Armenti William Nylander Fully in Rocket Richard Trophy Race, But His Priorities Are Elsewhere |
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily