Trade involving Nylander may happen sooner rather than later.

Things may be getting worse.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Trade involving Nylander may happen sooner rather than later.
Emil Wesolowski/Bildybran/Zuma

The Toronto Maple Leafs have kicked off the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season and, although the start of the season is usually a terrific time for the fan base, this time around it's not the joyous occasions that you would normally expect.

That's because this time around many had set this time as a soft deadline for the contract negotiations between their beloved Maple Leafs and William Nylander, one of the organizations core forwards, but that deadline has come and gone and no deal has yet to be announced. The restricted free agent not only does not have a deal in place but he remains in his native Sweden at this time and has missed all of training camp as well as the entire preseason. Worst of all however is the fact that there appears to have been no progress over the past several weeks and additionally there appears to be no end in sight, at least not an amicable one.

General manager Kyle Dubas has repeatedly reassured fans that he will get all of his core forwards signed to long term deals, that includes Nylander as well as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but there appear to be more and more doubts about the likelihood of that as time wears on. This week TSN insider Darren Dreger commented on the negotiations and indicated that the Nylander camp was standing firm on their demands of $8 million per season.

"And obviously the Nylander fight continues with the Toronto Maple Leafs and our information suggests that Nylander to date is not willing to come off the number of $8-plus million per year so that makes it pretty easy for Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs to continue their position to dig in," Dreger as per TSN. "Last week, [TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun] talked about the possibility of teams calling. Teams have been calling no doubt, inquiring about Willie Nylander, is he available? 

The bad news for Nylander is that there is no real pressure on the Maple Leafs to get this deal done, their offense has looked good leading up to the start of the season and they've also won their first game of the regular season. Meanwhile Nylander is losing tens of thousands of dollars per day in salary without a contract and that is money that he will never recover regardless of whether or not he signs. In spite of that however Nylander remains committed to holding out for the right deal.

"In the end I have to take care of myself and do what I and my agent thinks is right," said Nylander as per Sportsnet. "Especially if it’s about several years to come. I need to think long term. It’s my own future it’s about."

So what will the eventual solution be to this rather long lasting problem? Dreger believes that it is now only a matter of time before the Leafs must seriously consider a future without Nylander on their roster.

"The Leafs are saying he’s not available, but if this drags into early November, they’re at least going to have to think about it."


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