Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Trade Destinations for William Nylander

On Chris Johnston’s recent podcast he stated that things are not going well in the contract negotiations between the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are said to want an eight-year deal in the mid $8 Million range, while Nylander believes he is in the $10+ Million area.

In a recent article, I looked at what the 40-goal scorer’s fair contract should look like and it appears as the club is closer to the fair value number than the player is.  A couple fair comparable contracts were that of Mika Zibanejad and Dylan Larkin.

When comparing the contracts most people look at the dollar contract, but it should be the percentage of the cap that was taken.  If you do the cap percentage, Nylander should come in on an eight-year deal around $8.8 Million, so the Toronto Maple Leafs could cave a little to winger and give him $9.2 Million.

The talk about $10+ Million may just be posturing by Nylander to bring the deal into the mid $9M range, however if he truly believes that is what his contract should be, it may be time to move on from him.

The former eighth overall selection is coming off a career season that saw him register 40-goals for the first time in his career and reached 87-points.  The big question is whether this is his peak or him just unleashing what could be several years of high caliber goal scoring.

Nylander always gets his value compared to teammate Mitch Marner and some feel he is worth more than the Selke Trophy finalist.

It feels not long ago that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nylander went right down to the wire where the player almost missed an entire season of hockey in a hold out for his current contract.

This time around, the organization can’t go down the same route and I’d argue that the club can’t leave the summer with Nylander on the team and not signed to an extension.

If the two sides can’t come to a new contract that locks down the forward long term, GM Brad Treliving has to look at moving on from the long time Maple Leaf.

Here is a look at three possible locations for Nylander to end up and in each case he would be signing an extension with the new team as part of the trade.

Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Trade Destinations for William Nylander

To San Jose Sharks: William Nylander and Timothy Liljegren

To Toronto Maple Leafs: Erik Karlsson (26% salary retained) and Quentin Musty

It is no secret that the San Jose Sharks are trying to trade Erik Karlsson and this may be the deal to do it.

This moves screams Khawi Leonard.

With the 26% salary retained, the Maple Leafs will get Erik Karlsson for the next four seasons at $8.5 Million and get their top pairing defenseman they have been trying to get for decades.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner was the first defenseman to collect 100-points in over 30-years when he reached the milestone this past season.

By acquiring Karlsson, the Maple Leafs should be able to explode on offense as he would be the first defenseman since Tomas Kaberle to truly be able to make an elite level first pass out of the defensive zone.

While some will be skeptical of his plus/minus and lack of defensive responsibility, Keefe can pair him with T.J. Brodie or Jake McCabe to let him go free.

Karlsson will be 34-years old during next years playoffs and the Maple Leafs are giving up two young players in the deal, so they get Quentin Musty in the deal.

The 6’2″ left winger was a late first round selection by the Sharks this past draft and is coming off 78 points in 53 games with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.

If the deal would to go down, the Toronto Maple Leafs would still need to find a way to cut some more salary and could end up with John Klingberg making $4.1 Million on the third paring.

Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Trade Destinations for William Nylander

To Philadelphia Flyers: William Nylander

To Toronto Maple Leafs: Travis Konecny and Oliver Bonk

In this deal, the Toronto Maple Leafs add a little bit more of what they added in Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi.

Like both those players, Konecny doesn’t go running around the rink looking for hits, but also doesn’t mind getting to the middle of the ice and the front of the next.

Like Nylander, Konecny is coming off a career season where he collected 30-goals and 61-points, all while missing a quarter of the season.

The Maple Leafs would get two years of Konecny at just $5.5 Million against the cap and be able to re-sign the Ontario native next summer after the salary cap has jumped.  The other positive about a new contract is that it wouldn’t come on the books until John Tavares’ contract comes off of it.

Konecny would be a nice fit on the team and could play in the top six, but he isn’t the game breaker that Nylander is.  In addition, GM Brad Treliving would be acquiring 2023 late first round pick Oliver Bonk.

The 6’2″ right handed shot defenseman is another London Knights product who was named to the OHL All-Rookie team.  He would join teammate Easton Cowan as Maple Leafs prospect and both Knights players could develop together through the organization.

Ideally, the Maple Leafs and William Nylander could come to terms on a contract, however if they can’t, the team can bring in some needed cap relief and assets in return that could help now and in the future.