The Toronto Maple Leafs have quite the dilemma on their hands with William Nylander. The superstar is due to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season. Either the Maple Leafs resign the forward or risk losing him in the off-season for nothing.
Reports are circulating that Nylander and the Leafs are closing in on an 8-year deal worth north of $ 11 million per season. Leafs fans should surely be happy that Nylander might resign, right? Well let’s examine it a little closer. The Leafs are currently paying Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner combined over $33 million per season. Let’s assume Nylander signs for $11 million. All of a sudden, $44 million dollars of the cap is used up on 4 players.
Let’s put this in perspective; the salary cap is likely to rise to a little more than $ 87 million next season. 4 players making over half of your total cap number is a little excessive. By the way, they are all forwards – how is money going to be available to improve the defense.
Authority Athletics suggestion is to trade Nylander. Don’t get me wrong – Nylander is a true superstar! He currently sits in the top 6 in total points in the NHL. Look – I get that the Leafs are Stanley Cup or bust and trading a superstar doesn’t exactly reflect that goal. But I don’t really see another option. The Maple Leafs need to balance out the roster and this is likely the only way that can be accomplished.
SHOULD THE LEAFS RESIGN OR TRADE WILLIAM NYLANDER?
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