Leafs: The potential impact of William Nylander’s next contract
By Omar L
William Nylander is up for an extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs starting July 1 and it will probably set the standard for what Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner get.
One thing the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t had in a number of years is a core. They’ve had attempts at creating one, but never a group of players that many believed could contend for a Stanley Cup. The 2016-17 season saw the beginning of what that future core could be and what they could accomplish.
The most important thing about having a core is keeping it together. That’s pretty obvious, wouldn’t you say? Unfortunately, the salary cap can make that difficult at times.
Most would agree the core of the Leafs consists of; Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Frederik Andersen, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev.
Andersen is signed for four more seasons at $5 million per year. Kadri and Rielly finished the first year of their deals (signed last year) at $4.5 and $5 million respectively, with another five seasons to go.
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Gardiner has two more years at an affordable cap hit of $4.05 million. Finally, Zaitsev will begin his new seven-year deal next season, at $4.5 million per year.
That leaves the most important players in the organization, the “Big Three.” Matthews and Marner thankfully have two more years left on their entry-level contracts. Baring a large number of bonuses, the Leafs’ cap space should be able to handle it.
Nylander has one more year left on his entry-level deal after the 22 games played at the end of the 2015-16 season, and his 81-game performance this season. Although the Leafs have time to sign Nylander, there is really only one time to do it. NOW!
Well not exactly now. The Leafs cannot sign Nylander to a new contract until July 1. However, with the way he has been playing, dating back to the final 30 games, his cost is increasing more and more. In that chunk of games, Nylander scored 33 points.
His performance continued into the playoffs, where he scored four points in six games. Recently, Nylander led Team Sweden to gold in the IIHF World Hockey Championships, scoring 14 points in 10 games. On top of that, the 2014 first round pick was also named MVP of the tournament.
This is just to show that Nylander is continuing to improve from the inconsistent player some thought him to be. If the Leafs wait to sign him, then the dollar value of his next contract will be greater than what they would like to give him. Which brings us to my next point.
What Nylander makes is the foundation of what Matthews and Marner get.
Signing Nylander long-term is a no-brainer. An eight-year $50 million contract would be a fair and manageable deal for him and the team.
A contract like that would have the young swede make $6.25 million a year and carry him until his late 20s. And, as our very own Jake Middleton mentioned on the latest TIP podcast, it’ll be hard for a 21-year-old to turn down $50 million.
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Something in that ballpark has to be the mindset of Leafs management. Matthews is a lock to get a minimum eight years at $8 million per season, as the teams number one centre. If Nylander were to make $7-$7.5 million per year, then that could push what Matthews will make to maybe $9 or $10 million.
The same goes for Marner. If Nylander makes $6.25 million, the Leafs can be free to sign Marner to a $6.25-6.75 million contract. Nylander making more will push whatever Marner gets to a higher value.
Leafs management always talks about their goal of making a team that will have continued success for years. TSN’s Jeff O’Neill has said that, “a team is as good as their bad contracts.”
Leafs fans will be the first to tell anyone that the team has been victim to a lot of them. Although it’s exciting to have an elite young player, they have to be careful.
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Finding and identifying your core is one thing, but keeping them together is another. The Leafs need the Big Three to stay together for a long time. That being said, if it’s Lou Lamoriello that is putting the deals in place, we should all be confident that they’ll all get done. Remember, in Lou’s eyes, it’s the team first and the player second.