William Nylander is now the third highest paid player on the Toronto Maple Leafs and for every year he stays with the team, his contract is going to look better and better.
Nylander is a polarzing player. Drafted No. 8 overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the winger has been brilliant. He's currently third in points amongst that draft class, behind David Pastrnak and Leon Draisaitl, and has been the Leafs most consistent player over the past few years.
Auston Matthews is obviously the best player and at the time, Mitch Marner could have been considered the most skilled, but Nylander fits the role as an amazing second-line winger and someone every team should want. He gets criticized for his lack of intensity or scared ability in the corners, but that's okay. You won't win a championship if you have 20 guys like that on the team, but his elite skill makes up for it and he can help this team win, similarily to the Phil Kessel role in Pittsburgh year's ago.
After trading Matthew Knies earlier this week, the Leafs acquired Kirill Marchenko, who will now make $1M AAV more than Nylander. Marchenko's best-year numbers match Nylander's worst-year numbers, which shows just how valuable Nylander's contract now is.
With Nylander locked up for the next five years, John Tavares signed at a discount, all while Gavin McKenna is on his rookie deal, the Leafs now have a ton of flexibility to not only re-sign Matthews to a monster deal, but to add to their roster.
Nylander's contract makes him future Leafs trade bait
If Nylander was a free agent after this season, he would probably fetch $18-20M on the open market, so having him at $11.5AAV is such a win for this organization. On the other side, Nylander's contract is also so valuable as it makes him one of the most attractive trade pieces in the NHL.
When the Leafs signed Knies long-term, it seemed impossible that they would trade a 23-year-old winger who just scored 29 goals and only makes $7.75M for the next six years, but the reason they did this was because his contract was so valuable. Marchenko looks to be a better player than Knies but realistically they are very similar.
The Columbus Blue Jackets saved almost $5M by flipping Marchenko which they can invest into Adam Fantilli and then use the rest of the money to try and recruit Zach Werenski to stay.
I'm not saying that the Leafs would shop Nylander but I never really thought they were going to trade Knies, so if there's a deal out there that makes sense,, Nylander's contract gives them huge flexibility to make it happen as every team in the NHL should want his contract right now.
Nylander controls his fate with a no-trade-clause, but don't be surprised if his name gets floated out there if the team has another tough playoff run. Either way, his contract is incredibly valuable whether he plays on the team for the next five years, or the team decides to trade him.
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