NHL Network: David Pagnotta on NHL Tonight on the Toronto Maple Leafs and pending UFA forward William Nylander.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Tony Luftman: “We’ve got a lot to discuss. Leafs and William Nylander. The first thing that comes to mind is, a lot of players in a contract here feel pressure and maybe they don’t perform as well. Willy Nylander’s not wired that way. He’s as cool as can be and he’s performing. What are you hearing?
Pagnotta: “Yeah, he certainly is performing. Top 10 in scoring in the National Hockey League, Tony. And this is a guy that said basically from the get-go when the season started, said I’m gonna let my agent handle negotiations on this extension and I’m going to focus on my game. Which he clearly has been doing quite well.
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It has been a fairly loose conversation. There’s been an open line of communication, open dialogue between the Leafs and his camp but at no point is anything and, nothing has been derailed. But they’re also keeping everything very, very close to the vest and for good reason. They want to make sure that if anything does get out there, on that point, pinpoints this to be very close to an extension and to being signed and it’s right there to the finish line.
They’re going to escalate conversations and talks into the New Year. Once the calendar flips over in a few days in 2024, negotiations I believe, from what I’ve been told between the Leafs and Willy’s camp are going to start to pick up a little bit. Again, they haven’t derail. There’s been an open line of communication, but it certainly sounds like once the calendar flips, they’re going to try to get things going at a faster pace and see if they can get him locked in.
Both sides want a long-term deal guys, so you’re probably looking at an eight-year extension. It’s just a matter of the Leafs being comfortable with the $10 million-plus player, another one on the roster.”
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Luftman: “That guy has earned it all the attention, all the smoke, the guy is just phenomenal.”