After settling the cases of Auston Matthews and Sheldon Keefe, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving intends to attack the next one: William Nylander.
The 27-year-old Swede, who is coming off career highs with 40 goals and 47 assists for 87 points last season, is entering the final year of a six-year, $45 million contract signed in 2018 after six weeks on strike.
“Willy is an essential player to the success of this team. This is the next file to be resolved,” Treliving entrusted to colleague Pierre LeBrun to The Athletic.
The one who replaces Kyle Dubas in Toronto also mentioned that Nylander had told him of his desire to stay in the Queen City.
“He’s an excellent player and obviously we want to retain good players. In addition, [Nylander] told me he wanted to stay in Toronto. It is the most important. From this point on, we should be able to come to an agreement. ”
Without giving too many details, Treliving admitted that he would have further discussions with the Nylander clan between now and the start of the season. LeBrun believes, however, that the Leafs are just as comfortable letting the season play out before coming to an agreement with their 8th pick in 2018.
On August 23, Treliving granted a four-year, $53 million extension ($13.25 million on average) to its superstar Auston Matthews. A week later, he extended the team’s head coach Sheldon Keefe’s contract for several years. During the summer, there was also the case of Ilya Samsonov, which resulted in a one-year, $3.55 million deal.
“These are all independent files from each other. We’re going to go at our own pace for Nylander, without skipping steps,” finished the Leafs GM.
In 521 career games with Toronto, the Swedish winger scored 177 goals and amassed 430 points. While Marner and Matthews are often singled out for their playoff demise, Nylander has done well with 40 points in 50 playoff duels so far, including five goals in the series against the Canadiens in 2021 and 10 points in 11 games this spring. last.
