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 Columbus Blue Jackets: William Nylander

To Toronto Maple Leafs: Adam Fantilli and David Jiricek

Adam Fantilli’s time with the Columbus Blue Jackets would be very short lived as he was recently drafted third overall by the organization.

Originally projected to be the second overall pick, he dropped to third and went from believing he was setting up life in Orange County, California to Ohio.

Fantilli moved on quickly and signed his Entry Level Contract (ELC) with the Blue Jackets and it is expected that he will get a shot at making the team out of training camp.

By acquiring Fantilli, he could fit nicely on the Maple Leafs as his ELC would help keep the cap down for the team over the next three years, with the 2024-25 season being the most important.

Fantilli could be the future center behind Auston Matthews

Coach Sheldon Keefe could bring him in now as the third line center to likely play between Max Domi and Calle Järnkrok, while also preparing him to take over the center position from John Tavares.

While Fantilli is projected to be a top six NHL player, nothing is guaranteed, however the Blue Jackets would be getting a 27-year old 40-goal, 80-point player.  In addition to Fantilli, the Maple Leafs would get right handed shot defensive prospect David Jiricek.

The 2022 sixth overall selection came over to North America after being drafted out of the Czech hockey league and he played all but four games in the AHL.

This may be a lot to obtain from the Blue Jackets as both players are two of their top prospects, but Columbus would be obtaining a cornerstone piece for their organization in the midst of his prime.

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.