There's no two ways about it, William Nylander was among the Leafs' best forwards in this year's playoffs, marking back-to-back years where he's really stepped up his game in the postseason. Not only that, but he's now coming off of back-to-back regular seasons in which he has improved exponentially.
We all know that the Matthews contract will be the most important piece of business that the Leafs will attempt to conclude this summer, but following the Matthews deal, Nylander will be, quite arguably, the 2nd most important.
As far as where Willy's head is at, he confirmed to the media on Monday that he loves it in Toronto and intends to remain a Leaf and to try to win a Stanley Cup with the team that drafted him. However, he did caution that his focus is on preparing for training camp and the upcoming season and that he isn't due to sign a contract extension until next summer.
Obviously, this is a concern, as Nylander has a modified no-trade clause in his contract, which is set to kick in on July 1st of this year, which could complicate matters if the team wants to trade him after that date. Once July 1st hits, Nylander will have the ability to submit a 10-team no-trade list.
Now, I'm not advocating for a William Nylander trade. I have a Nylander jersey hanging up on my wall as we speak. However, we know that this core needs a shake up and we know that Tavares and Matthews are staying put after today's comments. Marner also expressed an interest in remaining a Leaf, but it would appear as though he and Nylander are the two who might make the most sense to move - if, in fact, the team does decide to split up the core. Since it doesn't sound like Nylander is willing to sign a contract extension right on July 1st, I think you certainly have to ponder moving on from him before that M-NTC kicks in, just to be able to fully maximize the return.
I'd imagine that if any move does take place, it will happen at the draft, so these next few weeks are going to be very interesting.
