Friedman reveals two things standing in the way of a Nylander deal.

Two major roadblocks for the Leafs.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Friedman reveals two things standing in the way of a Nylander deal.
Keystone Press

In spite of the fact that the Maple Leafs are well into their preparations for the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season the team has been forced to do so without one of their top forwards, William Nylander. The ongoing contract dispute between the Leafs and Nylander has been drawing closer and closer to the start of the regular season and as of this writing there does not appear to be a clear resolution in sight for either side. 

On Saturday night Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman commented on the ongoing negotiations between the two sides, and although things do not look good right now Friedman began his comments by offering some words that will likely sound hopeful to Leafs' fans who are hopeful for a resolution.

"First of all I think the key thing is, Kyle Dubas said it tonight, they want him to be a Toronto Maple Leafs and the belief is that William Nylander wants to be a Toronto Maple Leaf."

So right out of the gate that sounds very good for both Nylander and the Leafs, however as is often the case in contract disputes of this nature things are not always so simple. Friedman touched on what both sides were projecting in terms of a long term deal and it sounds like they two parties involved here are extremely far apart at this time.

"I think it would be very safe, a safe bet, to think that Toronto has offered him something similar to the 7 years $6 million dollar a year extension that Nikolaj Ehlers got from the Winnipeg Jets last year," said Friedman."

There are a lot of comparables that would support a salary in that range including the contracts given to Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak (6 years $6.67 million per season) and Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (7 years $6.3 million per season). That being said though Friedman believes that there is one major issue when it comes to contract comparables, the contract of Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (8 years $8.5 million per season).

"I think the reason Nylander is looking at the Draisaitl number or closer to it, is because Draisaitl went there because he knew that Connor McDavid was gonna enter the stratosphere at $12.5 million." 

That brings us to the second major problem that was cited by Friedman, and this may in fact be the bigger of the two issues. By the sounds of things it seems like William Nylander's camp along with the representation for both Leafs' forward Mitch Marner and Leafs' forward Auston Matthews all want deals that are going to be within a reasonable range of one another. That is to say they do not want one of the three player's earning significantly more than one or both of the other players and that seriously complicates the issue for general manager Kyle Dubas and the Leafs' organization who now have 3 contracts to juggle all at once. 

Friedman also added that Nylander's father is known to be a rather shrewd and tough negotiator although based on his tone I think it''s safe to say that this is a far less serious problem than both the Draisaitl comparable and the desire for all three young Leafs to remain within a reasonable range of one another.

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