With all the talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs shaking things up this offseason, some contracts might emerge as untradeable. That might be true for some players. But one contract that would be surprisingly movable is William Nylander’s.
Nylander will be entering the third year of an eight-year contract next season. He has an $11.5 million cap hit, one that doesn’t look too bad right now. And it will look even better considering how the rising cap will be pushing salaries up even further.
That’s where the Maple Leafs could trade Nylander without much of a hitch.
Yes, this season has been a bit of a downer for Nylander. He has registered 25 goals and 67 points in 56 games. Keep in mind, it has been a bit of an injury-filled year for the 29-year-old. If he played the entire season, he would have been close to his usual 40-goal, 80-point level.
If the Leafs wanted to move a star player to recoup multiple assets, Nylander wouldn’t be a bad idea. He could easily command three to four high-end pieces while freeing up a mountain of cap space for the Maple Leafs.
Could such a trade be possible?
It just might. The free-agent market is woefully short of big names this offseason. That’s why it wouldn’t be ludicrous to imagine Toronto getting phone calls about Nylander. If the organization is serious about “retooling,” moving the Swedish forward could be a major first step.
The Big Hitch in Moving Nylander
Trading Nylander shouldn’t be that hard. But there is one major hitch that could get in the way. The star forward has a full no-movement clause. Needless to say, the Maple Leafs can’t move him without his approval.
That’s a potential minefield. As fans have seen with other star players, those no-movement clauses can seriously hamper a team’s ability to get a meaningful return. As such, there’s no guarantee that Nylander won’t block a trade to a team Toronto wants to make a deal with.
If that’s the case, Toronto’s options could be limited. The Maple Leafs may have only a limited number of trading partners. In the worst of cases, the Leafs could face a situation like the New York Rangers did with Artemi Panarin.
Panarin painted the Rangers into a corner by approving only one team, the LA Kings, forcing New York to deal with the Kings exclusively.
That’s the power that Nylander holds in such a negotiation.
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What Could Maple Leafs Get out of this Trade?
A trade under fair circumstances would yield a solid return for the Maple Leafs. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect a first-round pick, a high-end prospect, a younger roster player, and potentially another mid-tier.
But if Nylander chooses to paint the Leafs into a corner, the return could be underwhelming. Because of his no-movement clause, the Leafs would need to have a deal in place. If Nylander nixes it, that’s the end of that.
So, the conversation might have to start the other way around. The Leafs and Nylander’s representation may need to figure out if there’s an appetite for a move. If so, what teams could be in the mix? The Leafs could do it from there and figure out the rest.
Chatter won’t really pick up now. As the clock progresses to the NHL Draft, more clarity could emerge on this situation.
Nylander Contract More Tradeable than Most Might Believe