Rumor: Leafs targeting three rental players

Every day between now and the moment William Nylander must feel like an eternity for Leafs fans. It’s been 119 days since Nylander’s contract expired with the Toronto Maple Leafs and neither side seems willing to budge an inch on the contentious and very public negotiations. This past weekend Sportsnet senior writer and NHL insider Chris Johnston reported that a long term deal, something that the two sides had always been working toward, was now off the table.

There is no long-term contract coming here. The Leafs can’t find an AAV that both fits in with their long-term cap projections and is large enough to entice Nylander to sign for six, seven or eight years at this time.

This likely means that it’s either a bridge deal or a trade in Nylander’s future, something that neither side really wanted when negotiations began during the offseason. Nonetheless, Nylander’s stalemate will be resolved one way or another, it’s simply a matter of time. What Leafs fans may not realize is that GM Kyle Dubas could be pulling off a stealth move while simultaneously negotiating with Nylander’s agent. 

According to a report from Joe Fortunato of the New York Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter not only was Dubas in New York City this past weekend to watch the Rangers and Calgary Flames, but that the Rangers also had scouts of their own in Toronto, as well. Fortunato went further to suggest that Dubas could be scouting a potential trade deadline rental like Mats Zuccarello, Vladislav Namestnikov or Kevin Shattenkirk.

Check it out:

Of course, Shattenkirk’s deal runs for two more seasons, so he wouldn’t be a true rental. Ditto for Namestnikov as he has one more season left on his deal. But Zuccarello could be an interesting addition for the Leafs and he wouldn’t cost the Leafs anything past this season. The 31 year old winger is coming off a 16 goal, 53 point campaign in 2018-18 and has six assists through his first eight games with the Rangers this season. His four year, $18 million deal expires this offseason and it’s likely that he’ll head to the open market for one last payday in his career. If he insists on testing the market, the Rangers will no doubt shop him at the trade deadline to recoup some assets.