Nylander contract no longer sounds like it will get done.

We have bee hearing for months now that general manager Kyle Dubas is confident that he will be able to retain every single one of his young forwards for the long term in spite of the addition of superstar center John Tavares this summer. Although many of us had our doubts regarding just how realistic that might be Dubas has accomplished so much in his short time as Maple Leafs' general manager already that it was very hard to pick against him.

Now however for the first time it looks like there is a real possibility that this deal is not going to get done and in fact one of the National Hockey League's top insiders was singing a very different tune on Monday morning when it came to the topic of whether or not the Maple Leafs could still realistically expect to get this done. 

TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger was on TSN 1050 in Toronto this morning and of course the topic of Nylander came up rather quickly. Dreger immediately noted that discussions may not be going anywhere near as well as insiders may have initially believed.

“Last week we talked about the thinking that there was at least good dialogue happening between the two sides,” said Dreger as per Chris Nichols.. “I don’t think that it’s turned nasty in any way, shape or form, but I don’t get the sense - unless something changed on the weekend - that there’s as much back and forth going on as we maybe initially thought.”

That's not to say that the Leafs are not still holding out hope that they can get a deal done with Nylander, in fact it sounds very much like the Maple Leafs want to keep the young forward for the long term. That being said though it doesn't sound at all like Nylander and his representation are at all interested in moving off of their original ask. 

“Again, I think both sides are being as cordial as they can be to one another. But what I mean by that is I don’t think that the Nylander camp has moved much, if at all, from where they maybe dipped from the initial ask. ”

It gets even worse, Dreger believes that the Maple Leafs are not prepared to go even close to the kind of money that Nylander is asking for. It makes a lot of sense when you consider that they still have to work out new contracts for star forwards Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and Dreger hinted at the fact that the Leafs were holding back for that very reason.

“If, and this is just speculative here, if William Nylander is still looking for a number that is in the mid-high 7s, well, then this contract stalemate is going to take a lot longer. Because I just don’t see the Toronto Maple Leafs coming anywhere near that given what they’re seeing in camp and the fact that they have to be mindful moving forward of the cap hit that Nylander is going to take and the bite that he’s going to take out of some of the resources they’re going to have to invest in other areas in the very near future.”

Of course the question that everyone was waiting for was whether or not the Leafs would consider trading Nylander if a new deal could not be worked out. Dreger was asked specifically about the possibility of some type of sign and trade and he seemed to suggest that it is indeed a possibility. That being said though he's not so convinced that there are a large number of teams prepared to pay Nylander the kind of money he is lookign for.

“Well, that’s possible,” allowed Dreger. “I guess the only thing that makes me hesitant to jump on that side of the story is how many teams are lining up to give William Nylander $7-plus million. I mean, he’s a heck of a player. He really is. But is he a $7-plus million player? He’s not for me. Not yet.”

This no longer looks like a slam dunk for Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs, not even close in fact.