Toronto Maple Leafs: Kyle Dubas Hits a Grand Slam on Nylander Deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs waited until the last possible minute to sign William Nylander to a contract extension.

Last night, with time clicking down, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally announced that William Nylander had signed his six year $6.9 million dollar contract extension.  It was a best-case scenario for the Leafs, as it’s hard to find one single thing wrong with this deal.

After months of speculation, the Leafs finally have Nylander back in the lineup. It should take about five seconds for  the anti-Nylander contingent to forget it existed.  This “selfish,”  “soft,”  player who “disappears in the playoffs” will be back in the lineup and everyone will suddenly remember that he is one of the best young players in the NHL, and that he plays on their favorite team.

Fact is, Nylander is not soft or selfish, and other NHL players will appreciate his willingness to fight against an RFA system that completely sells out young star players.  He won’t be a problem in the dressing room, and he won’t be seen as selfish by his teammates.  As for the playoffs, you can look up the stats last year against Boston – they’re pretty impressive, actually.

Kyle Dubas Wins

Kyle Dubas took to his first negotiation to, one assumes, prove himself a tough negotiator and do his best to set the stage for future negotiations with Marner and Matthews.

After playing some serious hardball, Dubas now has a star winger signed long term (no bridge deal is a very serious win for the Leafs) to a contract that is already fair, and will only get better.

A $6.9 cap hit is great today, and as the cap goes up and as inflation occurs, and as William Nylander gets better, it’s only going to be an even more valuable deal.

$6.9 million for a 60 point player!  Just remember that those 60 points came with a 50% deduction in PP points due to him being on the second power play unit.  He played 25% of the season last year without Matthews, and he was still only just outside the top ten in 5v5 scoring in the NHL.

Nylander’s points per minute last season was superior to players such as Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, and Vladimir Tarasenko.  He played about two minutes less per game than other similar players, most of whom were on their teams #1 PP unit.

All this was because William Nylander was on the team in the NHL that was deepest in forwards.  He did it against the toughest competition possible.

William Nylander is an elite player.  He’s every bit as good as Mitch Marner – and I think Mitch Marner is among the best players in the NHL.  To sign him for only $6.9 million per year is going to turn out to be an amazing deal.

Kyle Dubas has hit a grand slam on this contract. He signs his player, get’s a cheap cap hit that is going to age like a fine wine, and he earns himself a reputation as a hard negotiator.

This really is a best case scenario. It’s a team friendly deal that sees the Toronto Maple Leafs retain the services of one of the best players they’ve ever drafted for the long-term.  This is a 100% win.

Stats from naturalstattrick.com