Eklund: Time for the Leafs to (perhaps) sign Nylander….

Just sign him. The longer they wait the more expensive his contract.

Eklund: Time for the Leafs to (perhaps) sign Nylander….
- Eklund

This is embarrassing

Time to get a Lightning blogger, perhaps.

If they do sign Nylander, where would they have the cash to sign Kane?

Leafs have almost 8 months to sign Nylander. If for some reason they can't agree on an extension, then the Leafs get his cap space to bring in another UFA. Trading him was never an option unless the Leafs fall badly out of playoff contention.

Other players in the EXACT same situation...

Stamkos
Guentzel
Reinhart
Marchessault
Debrusk
Pavelski
Montour

All have 7-8 months to sign. None being traded as long as their teams remain in playoff spot.

they have tried to trade him is a line of crap. If they wanted to move him he would have been moved already.

Leafs have almost 8 months to sign Nylander. If for some reason they can't agree on an extension, then the Leafs get his cap space to bring in another UFA. Trading him was never an option unless the Leafs fall badly out of playoff contention.

Other players in the EXACT same situation...

Stamkos
Guentzel
Reinhart
Marchessault
Debrusk
Pavelski
Montour

All have 7-8 months to sign. None being traded as long as their teams remain in playoff spot.
- Cooleus

DeBrusk is 9th in scoring on the Bruins.

I don't think that qualifies as EXACTLY the same situation...

Let's review this: sign these guys for 7+ or sign:

Stamkos
Guentzel
Reinhart
Marchessault
Debrusk
Pavelski
Montour
or Willie for 10
TB is not signing Stamkos while Wille is coming up for a contract, in Florida there is no income tax!

William Nylander just lit up Sweden and earned a solid 3rd star….OK What? I would love to know how he is NOT given first star in this game….

- Eklund

Because he was the first star on Friday.

Yeah, I know. It makes no sense.

But that’s the reason.

Stunned that all those E5 trade rumours didn’t happen

Let Toronto overpay him for 7 or 8 years.

DeBrusk is 9th in scoring on the Bruins.

I don't think that qualifies as EXACTLY the same situation...
- Nasty_Duck

Sure. OK. Maybe Boston makes a hockey trade. But the broader point remains...

Contenders rarely trade UFAs. They either use them and let them walk. Or use them and re-sign them. Leafs are contenders. They've never tried to trade Nylander. Not once. He's a premier top line forward making just $7M. His next contract is $10-11M. And the Leafs easily have the cap space to do that. This summer...Bertuzzi, Domi, Brodie, Klingberg, Samsonov are all UFAs. That's $21M coming off the books. They need $3-4M of this to give Nylander a raise. It's not a problem at all.

10.9 mill 6 years is the price right now. But if he reach 100 ➕️ points 40 goals, he can demand 12 ➕️ on the open market. But no real contenders can afford that.

Leafs can’t afford to sign Willie and shore up the rest of the roster. He needs to be traded before he walks for nothing. Better yet do a sign and trade. The assets that come back will help for years to come! You don’t risk years of contending for one run at it, when the leafs are not really a contender this year.

Best offer I see a Florida or Chicago giving Nylander is a $12M X 7 = $84M contract.

Leafs can easily counter that with $88M/8 = $11M aav. In fact they can even make a compelling counter at 10.5M aav x 8yr contract by offering massive signing bonuses.

Sure. OK. Maybe Boston makes a hockey trade. But the broader point remains...

Contenders rarely trade UFAs. They either use them and let them walk. Or use them and re-sign them. Leafs are contenders. They've never tried to trade Nylander. Not once. He's a premier top line forward making just $7M. His next contract is $10-11M. And the Leafs easily have the cap space to do that. This summer...Bertuzzi, Domi, Brodie, Klingberg, Samsonov are all UFAs. That's $21M coming off the books. They need $3-4M of this to give Nylander a raise. It's not a problem at all.
- Cooleus

I agree Leafs should keep Nylander.

Best offer I see a Florida or Chicago giving Nylander is a $12M X 7 = $84M contract.

Leafs can easily counter that with $88M/8 = $11M aav. In fact they can even make a compelling counter at 10.5M aav x 8yr contract by offering massive signing bonuses.
- Turnitaround

Signing bonuses count toward the CAP so not sure how you figure that will make a difference. He will be getting a signing bonus no matter which team he ends up with.

Unless you are suggesting he will accept less overall if he gets even more up front. But I doubt it as he will definitely already have some kind signing bonus.

Let Toronto overpay him for 7 or 8 years.
- chazpet

Barzal managed 20 goals once in 8 seasons, 80 points once (both in rookie year) only makes $9.15M for 8 years
Bo Horvat managed 60 points twice in his career (now in his 10th season) Makes $8.5M for 8 years

You mean like that kind of overpay?

Or is it more like $7M for Anders Lee for three more years - he's on pace to score 14 points this year with a beauty -34 to boot - is it more like that kind of overpay?

Leafs can’t afford to sign Willie and shore up the rest of the roster. He needs to be traded before he walks for nothing. Better yet do a sign and trade. The assets that come back will help for years to come! You don’t risk years of contending for one run at it, when the leafs are not really a contender this year.
- Bullot

They can afford him, and they will

Leafs can’t afford to sign Willie and shore up the rest of the roster. He needs to be traded before he walks for nothing. Better yet do a sign and trade. The assets that come back will help for years to come! You don’t risk years of contending for one run at it, when the leafs are not really a contender this year.
- Bullot

Trade Willie and Klinger (retain 1M) for Montour and Verhaggie and Knight

Does the NFL have a diving penalty?

If it appears that you’re trying to alter the game, I believe they can hang an unsportsmanlike conduct call on you. I think most of the times that I have seen it called, it has been with offsetting penalties.

They can afford him, and they will
- winsix

Ohhhh kay! Guess we’ll all see sooner or later. And my point wasn’t that they can’t afford him…..it’s that they can’t afford him AND ice a team with decent goaltending and defence. I’d actually prefer to ship Marner out but Dubas screwed the team with all these no trade contracts. We are going to be stuck in the upper middle of the pack for years.

Signing bonuses count toward the CAP so not sure how you figure that will make a difference. He will be getting a signing bonus no matter which team he ends up with.

Unless you are suggesting he will accept less overall if he gets even more up front. But I doubt it as he will definitely already have some kind signing bonus.
- Nasty_Duck

Yes we are aware that signing bonuses count towards the CAP. What I’m implying is that the Leafs have an advantage by being one of the few teams that can entice UFAs by way of offering hefty signing bonuses. Also the Leafs are the only team that can offer WM that 8th contract year - so they can leverage this to reduce his aav further than what most other suitors could. All this to say that WM also risks something by leaving as a UFA.

Now… the leafs have $52.18M committed to 10 core players for the 2024-25 season. The CAP is expected to be around $87.5M. This would mean that they could sign WM to a $10.5 aav contract, leaving $24.81 to sign another 12 players. Not easy but doable. After surging a cap-crunch for 4 seasons we only have to navigate it for 1 more year…..2025-26 the cap will hopefully reach $91-92M (Tavares either leaves or accepts a much lower aav and the savings are passed onto Marners new contract)