Maple Leafs GM likely has a good idea what it will take to sign Nylander, Matthews, and Marner
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 yesterday and said he doesn’t think the Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent William Nylander are that close on a contract. Friedman notes that there have been some articles written that it wouldn’t be a surprise if it went into September.
“To me the biggest question is are we talking a bridge or are we talking term. If I was Nylander, I might be the kind of guy who would bet on a bridge deal. But I think Toronto has kind of tried to negotiate the waters with three guys at once, and it’s not easy. There are four guys – with Tavares – they’d all like to keep, but I don’t think it’s always the easiest thing in the world to do it.
“But the last I’d heard, it wasn’t that close.”
Friedman add that he would assume Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has a good idea of what it would cost to re-sign Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner, and that he’s likley spoken with all their agents.
Dubas will likely be pitching to their camps that John Tavares potentially left $15 to $20 million on the table to sign with the Maple Leafs.
“I said on radio in Toronto yesterday the one thing that’s kind of out of their control was Matthews had the agent switch right before, and you never know how that’s going to impact everything.
“I just think that you’re in a situation where you’re trying to say to guys, ‘One guy took a bit of a paycut, now we’re all going to have to do it,’ and you have to negotiate all of that.”