The Maple Leafs have to extend Auston Matthews before they move on William Nylander
The Leafs Nation: Elliotte Friedman on the Leafs Morning Take on the Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander, who are both eligible for contract extensions this summer.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Nick Alberga: “… We’re going to translate that to the Leafs world cause there’s a guy named William Nylander, Elliote. He’s having a remarkable year. Eligible for a new contract as early as next summer. What’s that next contract look like for Nylander in your opinion?
Friedman: “I’m going to use the old Lamoriello line here, ‘if you have time, use it,’ because you got to do (Auston) Matthews first.
I think they’re going to want to, there’s no way we can go into next year without Matthews signed. No way. Like, can you image the gong show that would be all of next season if Matthews enters the year unsigned. You will not be able to talk about anything else.
William Nylander just set a new NHL record with 14 points against the Sabres. I’m sorry, how does this affect Auston Matthews next deal? There’s no the Leafs are going into next year without that.
Now I’m of the belief that Matthews will re-sign. I’m not convinced it will be long-term but I think he will re-sign.
NHL Rumors: What could William Nylander’s next contract look like?
And then we’ll see where the cap goes. The thing is that, one of the things we’ve learned here is that the Toronto players, and a lot of this generation of players is like this, none of them really took discounts. It’s easier to take discounts when you’re winning. At that point in time they hadn’t won yet. Like the Canucks when they had the Sedin’s, they took their biggest discount when the team could win the Stanley Cup. I’m really curious to see what all of these deals are going to look like if the players really believe they have a chance to win here. But Matthews goes first.”
Will the Devils out bid the Maple Leafs for Timo Meier?
Nick Alberga: Elliotte Friedman on the Leafs Morning Take on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Timo Meier.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“The thing with the Leafs is, you can do it, and then flip him. And (Kyle) Dubas is the kind of guy who would think like that.
Now the price is going to be enormous. That’s. That’s the one thing, like Toronto doesn’t have a ton of cap room, they don’t have a ton of picks and they want to keep their picks. I don’t know if they have the juice to pull that deal off.
Like I think New Jersey is the team to watch there. I think that’s the team that has made it clear they like Meier and would really like to do it.
So my question is, can Toronto outbid the Devils? And I think you look up and down and you see if they can do that.