The Toronto Maple Leafs have been correct to ignore the media’s attempts to run William Nylander out of town.
However, the stars have aligned and it’s time to trade him, and there is a team so obviously in need of what he brings, who just so happen to have such an obvious over abundance of what the Toronto Maple Leafs need, that the trade rumour creates itself.
William Nylander must be traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Bowen Byram and it must happen now.
Byram is a no-doubt #1 defenseman in the making with elite skating, a hard shot, size, and a mean streak.
William Nylander is a 40 goal scoring superstar with untapped potential, where he to get first line minutes.
Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Trade Nylander for Byram
The Leafs are in a position where their roster is screaming out for some sort of major change.
The Leafs have a new GM.
Nylander needs a new contract.
Nylander is 27 and a new eight-year deal takes him to 35.
Nylander is at his absolute peak right now after scoring 40 goals.
Nylander has one year left on his deal, and would command a ton of compensation.
The Toronto Maple Leafs do not have a number-one defenseman on the team, and are highly unlikely to have one in the system.
The move then, is obvious.
The trade is even more obvious.
The Colorado Avalanche have a pretty thin group of forwards after MacKinnon and Rantanen with Landeskog out for the entirety of next season.
The Colorado Avalanche have Cale Makar, and that means that on that team, Bowen Byram is never going to get to the heights he is otherwise capable of.
They also have Samuel Giradi, Devon Toews, Josh Manson and Makar all locked up (most of them for years) so they have a great top-four defenseman even without Byram.
Byram is an RFA.
Treliving needs to make a signature move to put his stamp on the team.
There has rarely been a situation where each teams needs compliment each other better, and each team also has what the other team needs.
Nylander makes seven million this year and then is a UFA. Byran is an RFA who you could probably lock down for eight years at a $7 million dollar cap hit. This is the exact player you try to overpay now in the hopes that you get a few bonus years of a team-friendly cap hit.
This is the most obvious trade in the world. It makes both teams better, and spreads out the stars each team has so that each team isn’t overloaded at one position and understocked at another.
Brad Treliving isn’t going to be much more than just a guy until he makes a huge move. His first order of business should be to fire Sheldon Keefe, and his second move should be to trade Nylander to the Avs for Byram.
Byram is 21, he was picked 4th overall in 2019, and he had 10 goals last year in just 42 games. He is a superstar in the making. Nylander is already one. Nylander is older, but more of a sure-thing. Both players will have similar cap hits next season so there is no need to include other players. It’s a fair trade, good for both teams.
Treliving has to make it happen.