Nylander to Minnesota may not make sense for the Wild
Michael Russo of The Athletic: It’s likely that Minnesota Wild GM Paul Fenton at least checked in on the asking price to acquire William Nylander from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and possibly with agent Lewis Gross about the contract cost.
A right-handed offensive winger/center would definitely intrigue Fenton.
The Wild have been on a roll of late and their potential interest according to sources has waned.
It may not make sense for the Wild for several reasons:
The Leafs would likely want defenseman Matt Dumba and the Wild don’t want to trade him. If it would take $8 million to sign him, it may be too much for them and would require the Wild to move out another salary. If they couldn’t move out another salary, it may become harder to extend Eric Staal or Mikael Granlund.
The Panthers may have the assets Nylander but may not want the contract
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 650 and was asked for an update on the William Nylander – Toronto Maple Leafs situation.
Friedman doesn’t think there has been much movement when it comes to his contract. There are a few teams that are interested in Nylander on the trade front, but the Maple Leafs know he’s a good player and would want to get a lot for him.
Friedman was asked if the Florida Panthers might have the assets to trade for Nylander.
“My question with Florida is not the assets – it’s how much do they want to pay him,” countered Friedman. “If you take a look at their guys, they’ve got a lot of good, long-term contracts signed there. Barkov is just under $6 million, Huberdeau is in the same area. If this is a guy who’s looking between 7 and 8, maybe settling in the 7 or low 7s, that’s going to be more than your best players. And I could see some teams being resistant of that.”
The Panthers would have some assets that the Maple Leafs would be interested in but they may not want the contract that Nylander wants.