Maple Leafs and Nylander continue to talk but are still far apart
Bob McKenzie: Contract talks between the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander are ongoing. Don’t get the sense that any deal is imminent. This is still early in the process and any pressure point(s) don’t arise for another seven to ten days.
Bob McKenzie: In opinion it would be a surprise if a bridge contract is an option. A long-term deal is likely what they are looking at, and it’s harder to put a dollar value on that.
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 650 radio yesterday talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent forward William Nylander, and how this could drag into the season.
“Unless something has happened in the last 10 hours, not much,” indicated Friedman. “Nylander and the Leafs are considerably far apart. They’re dug in, and there’s not a lot of movement here right now. I think if you’re Toronto, you are prepared for the possibility that this will go into the season, that there is a possibility that this will happen.”
Friedman says that he doesn’t get the sense that the Maple Leafs want to trade Nylander, but adds that things can change. As of they didn’t want to trade him.
Maple Leafs and Hurricanes talked about Faulk, but it didn’t go far
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Pierre LeBrun was on TSN 1050 talking about Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk, who could potentially be moved. The 26-year old is a top-four defenseman who is under contract through next season at a $4.833 million cap hit.
“I was told this summer that to some degree Carolina and Toronto did talk about him, but it didn’t go anywhere. And that might just be that Kyle Dubas was calling around the league to start getting a foundation for what’s out there over the next 12 months, who knows. But I do know that there was at least a conversation about him. But he’d be the obvious – not the obvious fit, but an obvious fit in terms of being a right-handed, top-four guy.”
LeBrun thinks that the Hurricanes are likely wanting a team to pay a “huge price” for Faulk, and a team like the Maple Leafs may not be interested in doing that right now.