Brad Treliving Opens Up About The Nylander Contract Situation

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Travis Neil
September 8, 2023 (2:06 PM)

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With Auston Matthews signed to an extension all heads have turned to the other member of the Leafs core that is on an expiring deal William Nylander.

Treliving Reveals News About Nylander Extension

It has been noted than Nylander does not want to take a pay cut to stay with the Leafs with his asking price being over 8 figures.

Per Brad Treliving Nylander does want to stay as a member of the Leafs.

«I'm not going to get into the play-by-play of it other than to say he's a very good player and you always want to keep the good players,» Treliving said. «And he's told me he wants to be in Toronto. That's the most important thing. If there's a desire on both sides, then you should be able to come to an agreement."

The Leafs and Nylander have not hit a wall which is important to note. The Leafs GM does believe a deal will get strong together, it is worth noting that both parties are willing to negotiate during the season. The previous thought was that if the Leafs could not get a deal done before the season started that we would see Nylander traded.

It starts with the understanding that we think Willy is a top player and we want him and he's telling me he wants to be there, so hopefully we can find a way to get it done.

Willy is a really important player and a really good player, and we want to get him done, too.

That's next on the list.

Treliving said.

It looks like Nylander may be a Leaf for the start of the next season.

Leafs Top 6 for This Season

The Leafs under Treliving have addressed the main concern from the fans perspective and that is the physicality of the team.

The additions of Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi and Ryan Reaves have made this team a much tougher team to face. With Matthew Knies looking like a really good player for the Leafs, they now have a plethora of combinations they can use for their top lines.

The Leafs most likely outcome for the top 6 looks something like this:

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Bertuzzi - Tavares - Nylander

with Domi and Nick Robertson that can be interchanged into the lines as the season grows old.

There has not been this level of quality depth for the core 4 to play with ever, making this the most dangerous Leafs team to date.