Brendan Shanahan Makes Big Statement Regarding Future Contracts.

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October 3, 2018 (3:11 PM)

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"The Toronto Maple Leafs open up their season tonight at home against the Montreal Canadiens and William Nylander is nowhere in sight. The restricted free agent is still holding out as the Leafs start their season tonight and from all accounts, it doesn't sound like the two sides will come to an agreement anytime soon. Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan met with the media before Wednesday's opener and made a pretty strong statement regarding all the Leafs upcoming contracts. According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Shanahan made it clear that "the Leafs have asked their players to make personal financial sacrifices in the name of the greater good. Pointing out that the teams he played for in Detroit did the same thing and it benefitted the group as a whole."With Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews both up for a big pay day next summer, along with Nylander's situation now it might be a hard pitch in 2018. Players around the league are cashing in and trying to land long term deals.So far it doesn't really sound like Nylander is willing to make that sacrifice and it'll be interesting to see what kind of sacrifices Matthews and Marner are willing to make next season. According to CapFriendly.com, the Leafs have a projected $30million in cap space next season, however that's with only six forwards signed and three defenseman, add in Nylander's contract and that definitely knocks off another $6-$7million.
Brendan Shanahan just clearly laid out the #leafs plan to ask players to make personal financial sacrifices in the name of the greater good. He says his old Detroit teams benefitted from doing just that.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 3, 2018

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