Highs and lows in an NHL season can come in many forms. Sometimes it’s about performance, sometimes it’s about business, sometimes it’s about change.
As early as Monday, it appears the Maple Leafs will experience such a high when William Nylander signs a long-term contract with the club. His talented father, Michael, played for seven different NHL clubs over a long career, but it appears young Willy Styles will play for only one, at least until he’s 35 years old.
Multiple news outlets have been predicting for several days that he will agree to an eight-year contract with an average cap hit of more than $11 million. Sure, we might be getting Shohei Ohtani-ed again, but it certainly appears somebody’s been leaking information, either the agent or the team. Or both. The player, tied for fifth in NHL scoring heading into Sunday, wasn’t denying a deal is imminent on Saturday night in San Jose, saying it would be a “dream” to be in Toronto for the long haul.
Leafs haters despise these types of comments from Toronto players. They prefer the imaginary construct in which the stars and grunts alike are just dying to get out of the 416.
The reality is that great players love playing in Toronto because it’s a unique, complex metropolis, the financial rewards are high for the chosen few on the Leafs and the operation is cutting edge and competitive, at least since Brendan Shanahan got here.
The Leafs want Nylander — why wouldn’t they? — and apparently he wants Toronto if the money is right. He was an inspired No. 8 pick in 2014, perhaps just as brilliant as Darryl Sittler, also chosen eighth, was in 1970. So this is a long-term relationship that keeps getting better for both sides.
It might seem like an inflated salary, and it might seem like it’s a cap-busting type of contract, but both things were also said about his last contract. That turned out to be a spectacular deal.
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This expected announcement comes on the heels of a dreamy three-game California trip in which the Leafs started on time every night, protected their zone while attacking ferociously and gave up only two goals in total. Granted, two of the games were against bottom dwellers Anaheim and San Jose, but those are precisely the type of teams that have been tripping up the Leafs all season.
The negatives were few. Bobby McMann got booted out of a game for a borderline hit. For 55 minutes on Wednesday it looked like unheralded Lukáš Dostál was going to blank the explosive Toronto offence before John Tavares burst his bubble. Mackenzie Blackwood looked to be doing the same Saturday night until the Leafs got to him.
Martin Jones, arguably the saviour of the season so far, put together a scintillating .976 save percentage over the three games. Jones has so far been general manager Brad Treliving’s best acquisition, more critical to the effort than Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi or John Klingberg, all of whom arrived with bigger expectations.
The Leafs are heading into a stretch where they play eight games in 13 nights, followed by a home-and-home set with the NHL’s surprising No. 1 team, the Winnipeg Jets. Jones won’t be able to play all of those games, and there’s no sign of Woll’s return from a high ankle sprain. So at some point — perhaps Tuesday’s return match against the Sharks — either a reconstituted Samsonov or six-foot-seven Swedish rookie Dennis Hildeby will be called upon to jump into the blue paint and give Jones some rest.
Jones is 33 and hasn’t shouldered the playing burden of a No. 1 goalie since before COVID. What didn’t work for him in Philadelphia and Seattle is now working for him in Toronto. Could he be to the Leafs what then 31-year-old Darcy Kuemper was to Colorado two springs ago?
The Leafs ended 2023 on a few sour notes. But they delivered purpose and focus in California, and combined with the plundering of Pittsburgh on Kyle Dubas Night last month and now the apparently successful conclusion of the effort to lock up Nylander, the team has turned the page from the disruptions of last summer and looks as good or better than last year’s group, with winter reinforcements likely on the way before the trade deadline.
If the Nylander deal does get done this week, it will, naturally, create new speculation on the futures of Tavares and Mitch Marner. The cap is going up, and there is math that suggests the Leafs can keep all their stars if they choose to skimp elsewhere. Or, if it’s decided they want to change the makeup of the team and the payroll, Marner becomes the chip to play.
Sure it would help if Nylander signed for a more club-friendly amount. But he’s among the likes of David Pastrnak and Connor McDavid in NHL scoring. Pastrnak makes $11.25 million. McDavid makes $12.5 million. In what world would Nylander settle for $9 million when Jonathan Huberdeau is making $10.5 million in Calgary? And if you believe the Leafs shouldn’t pay Nylander until he has more playoff success, than presumably you believe Vancouver should take the same tough-love approach with Elias Pettersson.
But this isn’t 1985, folks. There’s no Harry Sinden out there grinding players and their salary demands down. It’s a bloated 32-team league where putting together a group of talented players is harder than ever. Just look at Montreal, Chicago and San Jose, and how long its going to take to make those teams competitive again.
When you get outstanding talents, particularly offensive ones, you keep them as long as you can. Of the top 25 NHL scorers, 20 are still with their original teams.
Nylander is one of those players, and should remain so for years. In a season in which the Leafs have still to get on a really hot streak, getting his name on a contract as the team returns home from a successful road trip represents an undeniable high for everyone involved.
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