Unfortunately for him, we all heard it on the radio.
Gord Miller was on the air of TSN 1050 on Thursday and told the hosts of Leafs Lunch something that might come back to haunt him.
After the Maple Leafs faced the media following their too-familiar elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the Boston Bruins in the first round, many insiders started to profess the need for important changes in Toronto and started guessing on which players isn’t expected to return next season.
While the names of UFA defenseman Jake Gardiner and often suspended pest Nazem Kadri have been mentioned more than once as players not expected to be back, Miller decided to up the ante with one intense declaration on forward William Nylander:
“If you ask me, to bet my house, I think he’s played his last game as a Leaf, I believe he will be traded.”
General manager Kyle Dubas took the blame for almost everything that went wrong in Toronto this season, including the contact impasse with Nylander that ended with the young forward signing a whooping six-year deal on Dec. 1st.
While Dubas had mentioned that he wouldn’t trade Nylander once he managed to sign him to a new deal, Miller reminds us that this guarantee only applied to the 2018-19 season.
Therefore, Miller’s house is on the table!
The Leafs could decided to pick up talks with the Carolina Hurricanes, who appear very interested in Nylander back in November. With their impressive defensive pool, the Canes could be tempted to answer the Leafs’ needs and send an interesting package to bolster the blue line in Toronto. However, the Hurricanes did manage to make it past the defending Stanley Cup champions and on to the second round, so they might have decided to forget about Nylander.
Let’s see what happens to Nylander in the coming months, and consequently what it will mean for Miller’s house…
