Toronto Maple Leafs: Signing William Nylander to bridge deal could work

With time running out before training camp starts, could the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander look to sign a bridge deal?

William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs have said all summer that the deal will get done but with training camp a week away, fans are starting to sweat a little.

Nylander, not a week or so ago, stated he would prefer to sign long-term. Every player in the league wants the security, both professionally and financially, which comes with a long-term contract.

There is always the possibility of a bridge deal, but would it be a better fit for both the player AND the team?

Disclaimer: I am not a cap specialist and will only be going by basic numbers, but sometimes it is best to use the old K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) formula. Also, who knows what the upcoming CBA will do to influence the cap numbers or percentage increase/decrease.

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So, Nylander is looking to get the maximum eight-year deal from the team, which is the likely route. Yet, I would assume the Leafs, needing to sign Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, would like the flexibility of the bridge contract to iron out some of the cash issues.

The cap, since the 2013-14 season, has grown an average of $2 million per year (although it jumped $4.5 million last season to this). For easy numbers, let’s say it grows the same over the next two years, it should reach up to $83.5 million.

Also, let’s take a look at who comes off the books over the next two years, along with their current cap hit. All numbers coming from Capfriendly.com.

The players with contracts ending as of the end of 2018-2019:

UFA’s:

Jake Gardiner– $4.05 million

Ron Hainsey– $3 miillion

Par Lindholm- $925,000

Tyler Ennis– $650,000

RFA’s:

Auston Matthews- $925,000

Mitch Marner- $895,167

Josh Leivo– $925,000

Connor Carrick– $1.3 million

Kasperi Kapanen– $863,333

Andreas Johnsson– $787,500

Garret Sparks– $675,000

The players with contracts ending as of the end of 2019-2020:

UFA’s:

Patrick Marleau– $6,250,000

Nathan Horton (FINALLY!)- $5,300,000

Justin Holl– $675,000

RFA’s:

Connor Brown– $2.10 million

Travis Dermott– $863,333

Okay, so what does this all mean?

Well, if we sift through the signings that would be perceived as important, we all know Matthews and Marner are of the “must get done” variety and don’t write this article. You give them the cheque with the caveat that we are in this as a team to win as many Stanley Cups as we can. Translated….”Hometown discount”!

I would put Gardiner, Carrick, Johnsson, Kapanen, Dermott and Brown in the category of “Sign, BUT for the right deal that makes sense.”

Lindholm, Holl, Ennis and Leivo would be of the “What have you done for me lately” brand.

The rest are, with apologies to Hainsey and Marleau, contracts you can see fall off the books. Their age would dictate they are taking a spot from one of the many prospects who are waiting in the wings.

Sidenote: does anyone see the resemblance of the Leafs prospects being like the English Red Coats of old, where one may fall but another takes the place immediately, causing the perception that they, JUST KEEP COMING!

So here is why I think the bridge might be a great idea for Nylander. The Leafs believe in his talent as he should too, and…hopefully, I can speak for fans in saying they also believe in the talent.

If Nylander were to take a bridge of two years at, say, $6.5 million per year, it is still a pretty big pay raise. Plus, he would get the opportunity to stick it to the Leafs after those two years if his point contribution continues to rise.

If you remember, this is the same sentiment Mike Babcock shared with Nazem Kadri when he signed a bridge deal a couple of years ago.

Would he really have to stick it to the team? Again, bear with me on the simplistic look at the cap situation.

Even if we merely take the Marleau contract hit, conveniently when the bridge deal would be up, that would open up $6.25 million of room. Depending on what Nylander does over the course of his bridge deal, would taking the $6.5 million hit from the bridge and adding perhaps $3 million from the Marleau release, equaling $9.5 million, be enough to keep the star long-term?

I would assume so. This would mean that you would have Matthews and Marner going in to 2020-2021 on year two of their long-term deals and Nylander booked for the next eight, which would be an ideal situation.

I am sure many are asking, “Well, what about Frederik Andersen?”, when the time comes. Well. remember earlier when I was mentioning about the cap going up; use that to pad his amount and keep the core of this team around for a long time.

One has to wonder, how good is Babcock at being able to jump from the Detroit teams who were competitive for year after year, to a Leaf team that seems on the brink of running the table for a number of years.

Leafs fan can only say it’s about time!

What are your thoughts on the Nylander’s contract situation? Should he and the Toronto Maple Leafs sign a bridge deal if they can’t agree on a long-term contract? Let us know in the comments below.