“Looks more likely now Nylander is getting traded than he’s signing!”

The standoff goes on as we are three weeks away from the deadline for the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign free agent William Nylander if the forward wants to play this season. You may be coming to your own conclusion as many believe Nylander will get moved, while others think he will finally sign in Toronto, however, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed what he believes will take place in the ongoing contract dispute. 

During a Friday morning radio hit on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590, Friedman was asked about the Nylander’s perspective at this point of November and what the Maple Leafs are expected to do about it. 

 “I mean, there’s no question that Dubas has got to be frustrated, and I’m sure that Nylander is frustrated. I think the thing that probably bothers him the most is that he had a vision for the four of these guys playing together, and trying to achieve success together, and I think we’re all looking at this now and saying it probably isn’t going to happen.

“I think one of the things that happens here is people kind of throw around the labels, ‘Who’s got more pressure on them.’ I can assure you that everybody involved here is feeling a lot of pressure because Nylander is sitting this out for a goal and Dubas is holding firm for a goal, and there is going to be a chance that nobody here achieves their goals. I think it’s very possible.

“And you know what? If Nylander goes somewhere else and Toronto wins, he’s going to look back and say, ‘I could have been part of that.’ And if Toronto trades him and he goes somewhere else and he lights it up somewhere else and that team wins better than Toronto, Toronto is going to look and say, ‘That guy was ours.’

“I’m sure they’re both sitting there right now and there’s probably a mix of anger, frustration, regret - there’s a lot of different things. But I think the only honest way to look at it right now is whatever the plans were two months ago, they’re all awry, and that it looks more likely now he’s getting traded than he’s signing.”

You can see the entire analysis of Friedman in the video here below: 

This will surely get people going, and possibly teams as well. It has been made known that the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights, Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles have revealed some interest in landing Nylander. 

In his latest column for the Toronto Sun, Steve Simmons put together a very interesting analysis of what Nylander’s pay check should be. He considers Nylander the Leafs’ sixth most important player (behind Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, and Frederik Andersen) and believes he should be paid as such.

We will see if the Leafs and the free agent’s agent think the same… If not, we might come to Friedman’s conclusion as well…