Elias Pettersson, a franchise player for the Vancouver Canucks, inked an eight-year contract deal on Saturday, which will pay him $11.6 million a year. After this season, he was scheduled to become a restricted free agent. There were some concerns about whether he wanted to sign a long-term or short-term contract, or if he would be transferred for a king’s ransom if he had no desire to go back to Vancouver.
In early January, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed star winger William Nylander to a comparable eight-year, $11.5 million average annual value (AAV) contract. He joined as the fourth Maple Leafs player to earn an eight-figure pay annually.
With contracts so comparable and signed somewhat near to each other, it is important to look at comparisons between the two to see where the Maple Leafs potentially went wrong in negotiations. There’s no doubt that Nylander is an excellent player, and as a homegrown talent has a special place in Toronto, but it does beg the question of “was it too much?”
First things first — looking at the point totals from this season and this season alone, the edge goes to Nylander, who currently sits in sixth place in the NHL with 83 points while Pettersson is in 11th with 75. The thing is, though, that this year is a bit of an outlier for Nylander, whose previous career-high in points is 87, much, much lower than the 111-point pace he’s rocking this season. Pettersson, on the other hand, has already reached the triple-digit mark, putting up 102 points last
