Report: Leafs taking calls on Nylander

Uh oh… trouble in T.O.?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Report: Leafs taking calls on Nylander
Zuma Press

On the most recent edition of TSN’s Insider Trading segment, NHL insider Pierre LeBrun dropped a bit of a bomb on Toronto Maple Leafs fans, revealing that general manager Kyle Dubas is taking calls on the availability of unsigned sniper William Nylander.

Nylander, of course, remains embroiled in a somewhat strained contract negotiation with the Leafs, so it’s really no surprise that teams are coming calling. According to LeBrun though, Dubas isn’t phased. “I’m told a couple of teams have phoned over the past seven days, and I’m told they got a uniform answer from Kyle Dubas, which is, ‘No thanks, we’re not trading him. We’re going to sign this guy.’ So for now, that’s not an avenue I don’t think at all.”

What’s the old saying, “It never hurts to ask?”

If a trade is off the table, what about an RFA offer sheet?

“In the meantime, you’ve heard whispers from around the league - I think it’s people gossiping more than anything else - about the value of an offer sheet”, said LeBrun. “Would a team be willing to do that to the Leafs and try and get Nylander on a one-year deal at say $8.1 million. The idea being that would be a difficult qualifying offer for the Leafs to absorb next year.”

“Forget about it. The Leafs have a ton of cap room. They would match under any circumstance,” reports LeBrun. “And, in fact, I’m told the Nylander camp is not focused on that at all right now. They’re absolutely focused on trying to get a deal done with the Leafs. “

So there you have it, just as it usually happens with the Leafs it seems that this is much ado about nothing. Still, with the regular season just a week away and with Nylander STILL unsigned, you can expect the rumor mill to kick into overdrive the next week. After all, all reports indicate that Nylander and the Leafs are fair apart on contract evaluation. It's believed that Nylander is seeking in the neighborhood of $7+ million per season while the Leafs seem intent on sticking as close to $6 million annually as possible.