Leafs, Nylander working on extension at 'north of' $11M AAV
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As the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to work on an extension with winger William Nylander, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports a new deal could make Nylander one of the league's highest-paid players.
"It’s not done yet. Both sides have been tight-lipped, but what we can say is that they’re trying to hammer this thing down." LeBrun wrote Thursday in The Athletic. "I believe we’re looking at a max eight-year term at north of $11 million per season. Just how far north of $11 million remains to be seen."
The 27-year-old forward has 19 goals and 51 points in 36 games this season and is on pace for career-best totals in both categories. He opened the season on a franchise record 17-game point streak.
Nylander posted a career-high 40 goals and 87 points in 82 games with the Maple Leafs last season. He added four goals and 10 points in 11 playoff games before the team was eliminated in the second round.
Currently, nine players are scheduled to carry a cap hit of $11 million or more next season. Among them are Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, who will lead the league once his extension at $13.25 million per season kicks in, and Toronto captain John Tavares. Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner carries a cap hit of just over $10.9 million, which is currently set to rank 10th in the NHL next season. No other team has more than one player in the top ten, while the Florida Panthers - with Sergei Bobrovsky and Aleksander Barkov both at $10 million - are the only other team with two or more players in the top 15.
Playing out the last of a six-year contract, Nylander carries a cap hit of $6.96 million this season. He signed that deal with then-general manager Kyle Dubas in 2018. After being unable to come to a contract agreement that kept him out of the Maple Leafs' lineup to start the 2018-19 season, Nylander inked a deal worth a total of $45 million and carried a value of $10.2 million in the first season, but narrowed to $6.9 million in the years that followed. The deal carries a 10-team no-trade list this season.
Drafted by the Maple Leafs with the eighth-overall pick in the 2014 draft, Nylander has scored 196 goals and recorded 481 points in 557 regular-season games.