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…
More must-reads: