William Nylander and Maple Leafs Have Talked Extension

William Nylander is the Toronto Maple Leafs second-most important player.

Auston Matthews is the franchise player.  No one disputes that.  But he’s also probably the best player the entire Toronto Maple Leafs organization has ever had.  A freak.  After years of watching guys like Lidstrom, Lindros, Forsberg, Crosby, Ovechkin etc. go to seemingly every other team, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got a true franchise level player.

But William Nylander is the kind of player who is usually a team’s best player.  He’s going to be one of the NHL’s best player; just not an all-time great.  Nylander can be Mats Sundin or Doug Gilmore.  You know, the normal kind of star player.  But Matthews is on another level.   With that in mind, it’s obviously important for the Leafs to sign him.  So it was good news when it came out yesterday that he’d at least begun talks with the team.

He was eligible for an extension on July first and it makes sense for the Leafs to try and extend him before he explodes and costs them even more money.

Leon Draisaitl

Draisaitl was drafted five spots ahead of Nylander and has an extra year of pro experience over him.  The Oilers smartly skipped the bridge-deal and paid for his prime, betting on the brief success he’s had so far instead.   Draisaitl signed a deal worth an $8 million cap-hit.

If Nylander signed the same deal today, I think people might say the Leafs overpaid. But the danger is that he goes out and wins the scoring title (not impossible, especially with Matthews attracting the best defensive players like a magnet) or something similarly good and ends up costing more.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have every incentive to sign him now.  The only incentive Nylander has is that if he signs now, he can get long term security in case of some kind of catastrophic injury – which given the nature of the game of hockey, is a reasonable fear.

More from Editor In Leaf

• Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson Healthy and Ready
• Ryan Reaves Will Have Zero Impact on Toronto Maple Leafs
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Playing Max Domi In Top-Six a HUGE Mistake
• Top 10 Scandals in the History of the Toronto Maple Leafs
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Results from the Traverse City Prospects Tournament

The Leafs should sign him now, before the season starts.  Anything equal to or less than Draisaitl signed for should be seen as team-friendly and a good deal.  There is no reason to go into next summer with three contracts to sign.

Potential

Nylander is already more than potential. He was a nearly point-per-game player after Christmas last year.  He then produced in the Playoffs and went on to win the MVP of the World Championships.

He has arrived and his potential is scary.  50 goals. 100 points.  These are extremely rare in the NHL, but William Nylander has that kind of talent.  Better to lock him up before he proves it.

But the most important reason to lock up Nylander?  Shutting down the absolute, bar none, worst narrative in sports:  Trading Nydlaner for a defenseman.

I can barely even talk about how stupid of an idea that is without the usage of dozens of F-bombs.  It makes the faceoff debate seem smart – and that’s one of the highest insults I know.

It took about five minutes into the September premier of various hockey shows to bring up this idiotic narrative.

Next: William Nylander is Un-Touchable

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to sign him so we can put this dumb idea to bed permanently.