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Toronto Maple Leafs: Why they need to remain firm with William Nylander

By David Morassutti

BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 5: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on March 5, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 5: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on March 5, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – APRIL 2: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs turns with the puck against Casey Nelson #8 of the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on April 2, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Tough to replace Nylander’s value in a trade

The trade option for Nylander has been gaining a lot of steam as our own James Reeve wrote the other day. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s getting to the point where somebody’s hand could be forced and if you’re a Leafs fan a trade might not be the best option.

Teams understand the predicament the Leafs are in, they don’t want Nylander to miss the entire season so they’re not going to solve that problem by offering their best trade package. Considering the rumoured players being offered in a potential trade, it’s not exactly enticing.

The problem is that the offers probably won’t get better as we get closer to the deadline even though many teams are reportedly interested. Part of the reason is that the Leafs will be looking to recoup Nylander’s value and it’s not something teams can or will offer.

How many of the rumoured teams can give the Leafs a fair deal is uncertain because those teams don’t want to give them that value because of the impact it will have on their roster. This is why they will offer many pieces but when you put it all together it seems underwhelming.

Consider the Carolina Hurricanes where the rumoured player being offered in a package is Brett Pesce who is a good defenceman but not the type of defenceman that gets people excited in a Nylander trade. On the flip side, don’t expect a team to offer a top pairing defenceman for a winger, it doesn’t happen, maybe if Nylander was a centre it would be a different story.

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