Report: Nylander camp makes significant concession in contract negotiations

Finally! Some progress, but can they still bridge the gap?

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Published 5 years ago
Report: Nylander camp makes significant concession in contract negotiations
Zuma Press

According to a report from TSN analyst and play by play man Gord Miller, unsigned Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander has lowered his contractual demands… but not by much.

Nylander was reportedly seeking $8 million per season, but has now reduced his asking price, but again… not by much.

Check it out:


There is consensus in the agent/management ranks that Nylander originally wanted 8+ million a year.  I’m hearing he’s come down a bit, but not much.


It’s believed that the Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas would like to get Nylander signed to a deal closer to $6 million per season on a long term deal. Johnny Gaudreau’s six year deal worth $6.75 million per season is probably the best comparison on the market, but it’s believed that Nylander and his camp are using Leon Draisaitl’s $8.5 million salary as a comparison.  

One thing we do know, Dubas has until Nov 30th to come up with either a contract or a trade for Nylander or he risks having one of his best young players sit out the entire season. This, of course, has led to a hailstorm of trade speculation. 

On last week’s 31 Thoughts podcast NHL insider Elliotte Friedman dropped a bit of inside info on who potentially could be in the mix for Nylander, should Dubas elect to trade him.

Check out these quotes from Friedman:

“Now the interesting thing about this is they haven’t been a team that’s been mentioned a lot with Nylander, but they could do it,” noted Friedman when speaking about the Philadelphia Flyers. “They have pieces that I think Toronto could like. 
“So who have we mentioned. We’ve mentioned - if Toronto gets to this point - we’ve mentioned Los Angeles, we’ve mentioned Minnesota, Carolina definitely - they’re all over the place there - but I really do believe that a stealth team that has what Toronto would want would be the Flyers.”

So… if Dubas is in fact scouring the market for a potential trade, we’re likely looking at the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild or Carolina Hurricanes as potential trade partners for the Leafs.

Again, check out comments from Friedman’s

It’s not a coincidence Kyle Dubas’s travels took him to see Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Carolina — all of whom could be a fit. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if Toronto targeted teams it believes are a fit instead of going public with a “sale” sign.

What we do know for certain is that time is running out quickly for Nylander and Dubas to make a deal. Should the clock strike midnight on November 30th without a deal in place, Dubas himself could find himself out of a job in his first season as the team’s GM. Pitter patter, Kyle.

Source: Zuma Press