A three-way trade in the works to finally put an end to the Nylander saga?!

Have the options changed for GM Kyle Dubas with so little time left?

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HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
A three-way trade in the works to finally put an end to the Nylander saga?!
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The contract dispute between the Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent forward William Nylander will reach some sort of resolution by the end of this week as both sides are facing a 5 pm ET deadline on Dec. 1 to re-sign the young winger. The Leafs still have three options in hand: they can get him under contract before Saturday, trade him to another team willing to meet his salary demands, or simply leave him unsigned and revisit contract negotiations next summer, which means he will be ineligible to play the remainder of this season.

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported Saturday a six-year agreement  worth around $6.9 million per season remains possible. On the same panel, Elliotte Friedman revealed in his latest 31 Thoughts column on Sportsnet that the two sides aren’t far apart, however it does not mean a deal is guaranteed. 

“I think the two sides are around $300,000/year apart. The problem is that both Toronto and Nylander think they’ve significantly moved off their original positions, so they get to a point where they don’t want to go further and dig in again. That might not sound like a lot, but Edmonton fans will remember Ryan Smyth was traded in 2007 when talks collapsed with both sides $100,000 apart.”

As for the trade option, Friedman mentioned that the Leafs have informed rival clubs that they “will not take on salary that disrupts its future cap situation.” Before of that, Friedman believes a trade is unlikely at this point. 

While some pundits could suggest that a three-way trade could be a plausible option because of cap constraints, Friedman also pointed it out as a normal assumption, however, dismissed it right away. 

“Toronto has told teams it will not take on salary that disrupts its future cap situation, making a trade unlikely — although some have tried. I’ve also searched for three-way possibilities, and am under the impression that’s an unlikely path. Their preferred option is still to sign him.”

If they’re as close as Friedman indicates, an agreement could come before that Dec. 1 deadline. In the meantime, we can simply wait… as we have for the past several months… 

Source: Sportsnet