William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs might not be far off from new contract
If a player was going to have a career year, it might as well be when they’re negotiating a new contract. Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward William Nylander is doing exactly that, scoring 19 goals and 32 assists for 51 points in 36 games so far in 2023-24.
All this comes while Nylander, 27, and his agent are negotiating a long-term contract with general manager Brad Treliving. While most of the league’s best players and their teams try to lock down a long-term deal ahead of the final year of his contract, Nylander has been comfortable without one, allowing his play to do the talking.
After his fantastic start to the season, there’s little doubt that Nylander will be among the game’s highest-paid players. But what number will he and the Maple Leafs settle on?
In Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Nylander’s contract status and just how soon the Swedish winger could sign with Toronto.
Tyler Yaremchuk: William Nylander has been, night in and night out, the Maple Leafs’ best player. But whenever you talk about Nylander, you have to bring up that he is a pending free agent. Any update on the two sides and their negotiations?
Frank Seravalli: They’re still grinding away. There’s certainly some thought out there that they’re going to nail down this extension in the next couple days. I don’t want to put any prediction on a timeline, but the prevailing thought from people close to the Maple Leafs is that he’s gonna end up in that eight-year/$11 million-a-year range. Somewhere between $88 and $90 million.
I think the Leafs were hoping he would be south of $10 million, but there was zero chance of that happening.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki were among the 16 Eastern Conference All-Stars announced Thursday.
Matthews, 26, became the first skater in the National Hockey League to reach the 30-goal plateau on the season and has tallied 45 points in 35 games for the Maple Leafs.
A now five-time All-Star (2017-19, 2022), the San Ramon, Calif., native is second on the Maple Leafs in points behind forward William Nylander (51).
Suzuki, 24, leads the Habs in points with 34 (12 goals, 22 assists) in 37 games this season.
The London, Ont., native heads back to the All-Star Game for the third season in a row.
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk heads to his fourth straight All-Star Game, thanks to his team-leading 16 goals.
Sixteen Western Conference players will be revealed during the first intermission of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Boston Bruins game later Thursday evening.
The All-Star Game returns to Toronto for the first time since 2000. It is the first time the event has been in Canada since Ottawa hosted the 2012 NHL All-Star Game.
