Coming into Toronto, Brad Treliving made it known that his primary goals were to sign Auston Matthews and William Nylander beyond their final years of their current contracts. Throw in the NHL Draft and free agency and the news hasn’t solely focused on the two stars when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Fast forward past some eyebrow-raising signings and the one-year deals handed out to Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi and the focus has shifted back to the two forwards and goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who was the only Maple Leafs player to file for arbitration this offseason.
While the current state with Matthews’ contract seems promising — at least by him saying all the right things — the situation when it comes to Nylander hasn’t been nearly as promising as rumours continue to swirl about how far apart the two sides are and that the Maple Leafs could potentially move on from the 40-goal scorer.
Nylander is rumoured to be asking upwards of $10 million per season on his next contract and while his play has constituted a major raise from his team-friendly deal, it’s not out of this realm to believe that Treliving and the Maple Leafs could move on from the Swede if his demands end up too far out of the team’s reach. After all, Treliving hasn’t shied away from trading big names in the past, even if the circumstances were different.
Nylander Pricing Himself Out of Toronto
Given the state of the franchise and the cap turmoil they are currently dealing with, it’s understandable that the Maple Leafs want to land Nylander somewhere in the $8- to $8.5-million range on his next contract. That said, the forward is looking to tap into that double-digit range after some successful seasons in which he was seemingly one of the more consistent forwards — especially come playoff time.
Nylander’s last contract was six years and $45 million, as it carried a cap hit and annual average value (AAV) of just under $7 million — a bargain when you look back on what he’s done since 2018-19.
Over that span, he’s had three 30-goal seasons, including a career-high 40 goals in 2022-23, topping off a career-year points-wise as well with 87 points in 82 games. It was the second consecutive season that Nylander finished with 80 or more points and the first season in which he averaged over a point per game.
Now, what could be playing against him in negotiations are a couple of things. Firstly, while deserving of a nod last season, he has yet to be named an NHL all-star to this point. On top of that, Matthews has the individual awards which can bump his price tag up, but he’s alluded to taking less in order to help the team win which could also put a damper on the final number for Nylander if he were to remain with the Maple Leafs beyond this season.
Treliving’s Past Trades Suggest a Move Isn’t Impossible
Whether it’s acquiring bigger names or moving them out of necessity, Treliving has a history of making moves that have major implications on his team’s roster. Acquiring the signing rights to Nikita Zadorov or trading for Tyler Toffoli, he’s always looked for options to better his franchise.
That includes moving both Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan in his final offseason with the Calgary Flames and letting Johnny Gaudreau walk in free agency knowing very well that he wouldn’t be able to re-sign the star players as two-thirds of that group voiced their interest in leaving the Flames once their contracts were up.
Now, while Nylander’s situation is slightly different as he voiced his interest in playing for the Maple Leafs following last season’s second-round exit, don’t for a second think that Treliving wouldn’t look for a possible move if he didn’t think he could re-sign Nylander beyond this year.
Let’s also clarify that Nylander does have a modified no-movement clause that kicked in on July 1. That includes a 10-team no-trade list that Nylander submitted to the Maple Leafs. But given that the two sides are on completely different pages at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if Treliving explored all of his options.
This is not to say that a move is imminent. Nor is it to say that Nylander no longer wants to play for the Maple Leafs. Let’s be clear, both sides are playing some hardball right now and neither one seems like they want to give an inch. That could obviously change as the season nears, or Nylander could enter the final season of his contract without a new deal done. The final option is that the two sides could come together and figure it out, but that doesn’t seem likely at this point. All we’re saying is that it’s not impossible that Nylander could get moved if talks don’t move in the right direction.
Treliving & Nylander: What Gives?
Again, Treliving was in a similar situation following the Tkachuk trade to Florida. Both Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar were due for new contract and without them, the trade seemed to be offset in favour of the Panthers.
Quickly and without issue, Treliving got the job done, visiting Huberdeau and making sure he got locked up while also making sure that he tied down Weegar with a long-term deal.
Related: Maple Leafs Must Move Matt Murray
With that in mind, it seems as though when Treliving sets his mind to things he gets them done. Now, he’s got a hefty task in front of him with both Matthews and Nylander looking for new contracts and not a lot of wiggle room when it comes to the cap.
The glass-half-full side says that he finds a way to get it done and meet Nylander somewhere in the middle, but Nylander seems pretty set on getting that $10-million AAV with his new contract.
After all, since the start of his last contract, Nylander has scored 129 goals and 295 points — that’s good enough for 32nd in the NHL for goals over that span and 40th in points. He also ranks third on the Maple Leafs in goals over that span and fourth in points, so why shouldn’t his salary dictate that?
Either way, one side is going to have to break and compromise. Otherwise, we could be having a discussion regarding a Nylander trade at some point in the near future as it would help the Maple Leafs clear cap space or, worst case scenario, we could be discussing the potential that he walks in free agency next offseason.
We all remember how Mats Sundin wouldn’t waive his no-trade clause so that the Maple Leafs could move him for assets and joined the Vancouver Canucks the following season as a free agent. It would be devastating to the organization and the fanbase if yet another Swede with that much talent were to do the same thing because they couldn’t get a deal done.
That said, the additions of Bertuzzi and Domi do give Treliving some wiggle room, at least on a short-term basis.
