It wasn’t just another Monday in the Center of the Hockey Universe as the Toronto Maple Leafs and forward William Nylander agreed to terms on an eight-year, $92 million contract extension, the largest value of any contract signed in Maple Leafs history.
It’s hard to say the new deal is undeserved, especially when you consider Nylander, who is coming off back-to-back 80-point seasons and a career-high 40 goals in 2022-23, is on pace for another 40-goal season and could hit the 100-point mark for the first time in his career.
Through 37 games this season, Nylander has 21 goals and 33 assists for 54 points. On a team with the league leader in goals (Auston Matthews with 30), there’s a case to be made that Nylander is the team’s most valuable player.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Nylander’s new deal and how the Maple Leafs can navigate the salary cap in the foreseeable future.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The Toronto Maple Leafs have made it official: they have agreed to terms on a historic deal, a franchise-record contract for William Nylander with $92 million, $69 million of that in a signing bonus.
Nylander gets full protection with a full no-move clause and a no-trade clause, and the Maple Leafs get to keep the core-four together for a few more seasons.
Frank Seravalli: Nylander is locked in until the end of the 2031-32 season. This is a huge moment for the Leafs. On the one hand, I understand why you want to keep the player, he’s been such a special player this season. On the other hand, I think the Leafs bought into Nylander at the top of market.
If you look at the salary cap rankings for next season, Nylander will be tied for the fifth-highest salary cap with $11.5 million. You have four guys inside the top 10. If you were to draft the players in the NHL, where would Nylander go? He certainly wouldn’t go in the top five.
I get what the Leafs were up against and having to pay market price, and it beats the alternative of letting him walk for nothing, but through the entirety of this contract, you’re never going to get surplus value and that’s tough for the Leafs.
You can watch the full segment here…
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