Toronto needs to work this out with Nylander, or they need to explore the option of a trade. While it would be extremely troubling to lose Nylander prior to a playoff push, losing him for nothing in the summer is a worst-case scenario outcome. He could cost the Leafs in excess of $10 million per season. That makes things tight. At the same time, Nylander is proving himself worth it. He has 41 points in 29 games this season. That puts him on pace for 115 points. Players like that get paid.
The longer this draws out, the more expensive Nylander becomes. That could mean more teams wanting to talk with the pending UFA
Johnston said part of the reason the Leafs might not be worried about negotiations is because the two sides continue to have open dialogue. Johnston explained: Well there certainly working way at it and I think that that’s maybe why there is no worry because at this point in time it does seem as though the Leafs and William’s Camp are on this the same page on a number of fronts… Neither of them want to talk about this much publicly, and obviously they’re keeping a lid on the negotiations as much as they can.”
He added, ” I think that one thing that remains unchanged is that William Nylander absolutely wants to be a Maple Leaf long term, it’s still his goal and his camp’s goal to get a deal done.”
