October 5, 2018
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1290 and was asked about any potential player movement that could occur this month. Dreger says that there hasn’t really been much trade talk so far, minus the couple minor trades the past few days.
“The only name that makes sense that we’re going to have to pay attention to in the days and perhaps weeks ahead here on the signing front or trade front is William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs. There’s been no progress there. There hasn’t been a lot of dialogue. Maybe something has changed this afternoon. I don’t get that sense.
“I remind people Nylander is a restricted free agent, like every other restricted free agent – doesn’t have a contract. So he’s entitled to continue this stalemate as long as he’s comfortable. But he’s got to sign by December 1, otherwise he can’t play.”
Teams have been calling the Maple Leafs about Nylander and asking if they would trade him.
“The answer is no right now, but maybe that changes if you get into later October or early November.”
Kristen Shilton: The Toronto Maple Leafs still need to sign William Nylander for this season and have Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to deal with for next year. Maple Leafs president Brendan Shannan said that his young core is going to have make a bit of financial sacrifice in order to keep the young core together.
“With the challenges of today, you have to figure out what’s most important to you,” Shanahan told reporters Wednesday. “At the end of the day, we see a great example in . could have made more money elsewhere, but it wasn’t his job to set a new bar or to please other people with other interests. He wanted to come here and win hockey games and be treated fairly, and he is. And that’s what we hope for and expect from our players as we go forward.”
Nylander is training back in Sweden as he awaits a new deal and is still in the Maple Leafs plans at the right price. The Leafs can’t overspend on Nylander given their future cap situation.
Kristen Shilton: Auston Matthews was asked about Shanahan’s comments about young players making a financial sacrifice to remain with the Maple Leafs: “That’s why we have agents, right? Let them figure it out, talk to management. We’ll stay out of it and just play hockey.”
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: Shanahan adds that taking less money isn’t for everyone.
“It’s not for everyone,” Shanahan said of the pitch the team was making to its core of young players. “But for the ones that will play here that is what they want or that’s what we want from them and I think that’s what they want from each other. And at the end of the day I think that’s what you look back on and remember the most is how they interact with their teammates and whether they were able to be a part of something like this.”
The Leafs may be looking to get Nylander signed to a long-term deal at a little less than $7 million.
Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said last week in an interview that he spoke with their young core before free agency got underway on July 1st and they all agreed that adding John Tavares would be good for the team.
“And they were all unanimously on side with wanting us to push and add him,” Dubas said. “Because as John has said a number of times, ‘I didn’t want to come to a team and have them have to subtract two or three guys. Kind of defeats the purpose.’ So that was our entire ambition before we approached John was to make sure that everyone internally was on-side and then we rolled from there.”
The Maple Leafs have held some talks with Matthews and Marner’s reps. Matthews could be looking at Connor McDavid money and Marner at Leon Draisaitl money and more.
Shanahan on Nylander talks.
“It just takes time. It does take some time. There will be no panic involved on our end. And I feel like there will be no panic involved on their end. And sometimes it just takes a little bit more time than usual to get to where we need to be. I’m still confident that with Kyle we’re going to get there.”
September 25, 2018
Babcock on Nylander: "Willie knows we want him back, we would like him back as soon as possible. That’s a business thing between them and Kyle. In saying that, it’s way easier to be ready to go if you’re here." #Leafs
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) September 25, 2018
Auston Matthews on the absent William Nylander: "He’s obviously focused on making sure he’s in good shape so when that [contract] gets done he can come here. I talked to him a little bit over the last couple weeks but you don’t want to keep peppering him and bothering him."
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) September 25, 2018
September 24, 2018
Alexander Nylander says his brother William is doing “good” while waiting for a new contract from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Buffalo Sabres prospect has kept in touch with his older sibling since returning to North America at the start of September but doesn’t know much about the current state of his contract talks.
“He wants to be here, obviously, he wants to play,” Nylander said after Friday’s 5-3 pre-season loss in Toronto. “That’s the way it is right now and I just hope everything goes well with him and good stuff will happen.”
William Nylander is skating back home in Sweden. He’s missed the first nine days of Maple Leafs training camp because of the contract stalemate and has kept a low profile during his absence – save for an Instagram post earlier this week touting a new apparel deal with Reebok.
Jared Clinton of The Hockey News: There had been some speculation that William Nylander is looking for more than $8 million a season on a long-term deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs may be more comfortable in the $6 to $6.5 million range.
Nylander has put up similar numbers as Leon Draisaitl and he signed an $8.5 million deal, though Draisaitl is a center and Nylander plays on the wing.
The Leafs could be looking at Winnipeg Jets Nikolaj Ehlers and his deal at $6 million per.
A short-term bridge deal would offer the Maple Leafs some financial flexibility for a couple seasons, especially with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner needing new contracts after the season. It would also help with additional salary cap space at the trade deadline this year and next.
What about a three-year bridge deal like Nikita Kucherov signed with the Lightning at about $4.8 million? It saved the Lightning at the start of the deal but ended up costing more after he signed his eight-year deal at $9.5 million per this offseason.
So a bridge deal would help the Leafs now, and if Nylander is willing to gamble on himself, he could put himself into a better financial situation in the future.
September 20, 2018
Bob McKenzie: Contract talks between the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander are ongoing. Don’t get the sense that any deal is imminent. This is still early in the process and any pressure point(s) don’t arise for another seven to ten days.
Bob McKenzie: In opinion it would be a surprise if a bridge contract is an option. A long-term deal is likely what they are looking at, and it’s harder to put a dollar value on that.
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 650 radio yesterday talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent forward William Nylander, and how this could drag into the season.
“Unless something has happened in the last 10 hours, not much,” indicated Friedman. “Nylander and the Leafs are considerably far apart. They’re dug in, and there’s not a lot of movement here right now. I think if you’re Toronto, you are prepared for the possibility that this will go into the season, that there is a possibility that this will happen.”
Friedman says that he doesn’t get the sense that the Maple Leafs want to trade Nylander, but adds that things can change. As of they didn’t want to trade him. Maple Leafs and Hurricanes talked about Faulk, but it didn’t go far.
September 16, 2018
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: The Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights were among the teams to check in on Rick Nash. One GM said he heard a team was willing to offer Nash a three-year at $16 million. Nash’s agent said “Nothing has changed since July 1. Status quo.”
William Nylander isn’t interested in a bridge deal with the Maple Leafs and they appear to be far apart on a long-term deal. There is a rumor going around that he’s asking for something close to Leon Draisaitl‘s $8.5 million per season.
According to Kevin McGran of the Star, rumors are Nylander wants $8 million per season and the Leafs have him valued at $6.5 million. Dubas isn’t going to budge and isn’t concerned if Nylander misses some of training camp. The optics of Nylander missing a few games versus Dubas putting the Leafs in a precarious salary cap position make the decision to let Nylander sit an easy one.
September 10, 218
Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas was on TSN and was asked what the latest was on restricted free agent William Nylander.
“There are a lot of players in the league and a lot of teams in the league that have players in this situation stills, and we’re continuing to work towards a solution to it. I’m confident we’ll get there. We’re not going to, of course, get too deep into our situation with any player that we have and their contract status. We’ll have some news on that when we have it.”
Dubas said he hasn’t thought much if Nylander will attend training camp if he doesn’t have a contract, and there haven’t been any talks with Nylander’s camp about it.
Dubas when asked if Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner could have contract extensions in place before the start of the season.
“I wouldn’t say it’s all too likely. We’ve had good discussions with all of them, with Mitch and Auston and their people. These are the types of things, because there is no real immediacy to it – they both have another year of their contract and everyone is excited for the season – it has been a very patient process on all parts. That is more from the team than it is from the players. I believe that if a player is going to commit to a team on a long-term agreement, we want them to be very comfortable with what they are getting into. That is the approach that we’ve taken with them and we’ve had good discussions with Judd Moldaver and Darren Ferris, respectively, on Auston and Mitch.”
Damien Cox of the Toronto Star: Training camp is getting close and the Toronto Maple Leafs still need to sign restricted free agent William Nylander.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have been eligible to sign a contract extension but haven’t signed one yet.
Nylander looks like a consistent 25-30 goal scorer but could reach 40. He could also end up being a center, which makes him more valuable. Both are reasons that may point to a bridge deal.
Winnipeg Jets Nikolaj Ehlers has similar numbers to Nylander and he signed for seven years and $42 million. $6 million a season seems a little low for Nylander.
Joe Bowen joins the Jeff Blair show to discuss everything from William Nylander’s current contract dispute to whether or not he thinks the Toronto Maple Leafs will be able to lock up the core long-term.
Detail about William Nylander's game that impresses is his play away from the puck in the neutral zone. Great at tracking and anticipating plays and has the tools to generate offence going the other way. Led all forwards in NZ stick checks last season - Barkov 2nd. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/U8PjFwAqGR
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) September 6, 2018
In an extensive 1-on-1 interview, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas tells @TSNBobMcKenzie he's confident William Nylander's contract will be resolved and discusses the latest on Matthews and Marner's possible extensions.
VIDEO: https://t.co/OY8jdmNaFj pic.twitter.com/HzVIHX6W1i
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 5, 2018