Latest On Matthews & Nylander As Time Ticks And Urgency Rises

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Tyler Ball
August 16, 2023 (1:49 PM)

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Auston Matthews and William Nylander have been in the hockey headlines all summer. Both are heading into contract years without an extension. The urgency is starting to be turned up on needing to get these contracts done. Recently on the JD Bunkis Podcast, he talked with James Mirtle about the offseason and where things stand with Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

But I am going to start with that, which is, man, we hit free agency and it was every day that goes by without William Nylander signing an extension
is closer to a trade. And Matthew's deal is basically on the doorstep. And then neither of them happened.

Extension Timetables

One of the first topics the pair head into is the timeline for an extension for both Matthews and Nylander.

You know, Matthew's will be in Toronto relatively soon and the guys will start skating before training camp. And in that period, I could see them getting something done. And that's, again, that's not me breaking news or anything. I just think that that's probably the timetable there. The Nylander one, it feels like that its going to drag into the season for sure, which is interesting.

They know that he gets to day one of camp. if Matthews isn't signed and Nylander isn't signed, it's going to be the talking point. It's going to be what Treliving's asked about. It's going to be what the coaches asked about. It's going to be what the players are going to be asked about. So, you know, and I really believe on the part of the Leafs and the Matthews camp that they're cognizant of that and they'd like to avoid it and they'd like to get something done.

These quotes are consistent with recent reports that Matthews is closer to an extension and would like to have one done around training camp. Nylander's case as they said is quite a bit more clouded in mystery.

What To Do With William Nylander?

Bunkis and Murtle then go into more speculation about how the Nylander scenario could play out. Including how long should the Leafs allow the negotiations to drag on.

Like, do you just, do you just walk him to the doorstep? And I think I think that would have been more reasonable had they not done that with so many other players, right? And kind of had it accumulate to the point where you start looking at what left and the value that you could have gotten back. And it's just, to me, if he ends up being an own rental, he's walking for nothing.

Like, I don't see a scenario where you're going to enter the trade deadline. And I've tried to kind of kick that around, maybe even with you. Or maybe I was talking about with Versteeg, where you go, maybe the ideal scenario is you go into the season, you see how it plays out. And then you approach the deadline thinking, hey, is he someone you flip somewhere? And I went, how would that ever work? How does a Nylander trade in the middle of the year work? You're moving more.

I just, I can't, if I'm Brad Treliving, I can't have another Johnny Gaudreau situation.

The idea of having to trade one of the core four, especially in a contract year is not at all appetizing. However, this may be a reality, particularly in the case of William Nylander.

The Optics Of A Matthews Extension Before The Season.

Auston Matthews is one of the biggest stars in the NHL playing in one of the biggest markets in the league. When there is news about him and the Toronto Maple Leafs it will get covered and talked about more than just about any other player on any other team. The pair touched on this and the media firestorm that could come in training camp.

Do you think that that stuff kind of matters more here? Like the optics and the perception of having that done earlier rather than later would have actually served this franchise any tangible benefit and the player.

I think, I think early September is fine. Like I don't think anybody's, this is one of those things that feels like a big deal now and if it's done in three weeks, right? So I think everyone involved knows that it's different here.

While they acknowledge that things are different they also say that getting a deal done in early September is fine. This would allow the Leafs to head into training camp with their biggest star under contract. Avoiding all of the speculation and questions for everyone involved.