Only a rebuild would get William Nylander to want to leave town
Jonas Siegel and Chris Johnston of The Athletic: If it’s only a retool, William Nylander wants to remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs. If it’s a rebuild, then it’s a different story.
“Unless it was a full rebuild and we were going to get rid of everybody, then it’s a different story. Then you take that conversation then,” Nylander told The Athletic following practice on Wednesday. “But just to do a retool or whatever, I don’t even know, but I mean, I still want to be here, yeah.”
Maple Leafs CEO and president Keith Pelley wants a retool because of foundational pieces like Nylander, Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and John Tavares. Matthews and Pelley exchanged texts after the firing.
Will Auston Matthews be on board with the eventual Toronto Maple Leafs plan?
TSN: Chris Johnston on Auston Matthews and the direction the Leafs could go in.
“They did exchange some texts and there is an expectation at some point here as the Leafs get into the offseason, that there will be further conversations between Matthews, his representatives, Keith Pelley, everyone important with the Leafs, just in terms of the direction of the organization and where things are at. Because at this point in time, I’m not sure if he knows what the future looks like.
I think a lot of people are asking questions about the direction of this organization. And obviously, if we’re talking about Auston Matthews potentially not being on board with the plan, well, that might change the whole discussion entirely.”
The Maple Leafs need a GM and a president of hockey ops
TSN: Darren Dreger says that sources around the league say that the Maple Leafs need to have a separate GM and president of hockey ops as the positions are just too big for one person to deal with.
“That the job is simply too big for one guy to both be the general manager and then ultimately deal with a number of things that a president of hockey ops would have to deal with.
And I can tell you that when Brendan Shanahan was let go, Brad Treliving had serious reservations about coming back as general manager because he understood everything that Brendan Shanahan brought to the deal.”
Dreger adds that during the Olympic break, Pelley and Treliving did have an initial conversation about a possible extension.
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