Maple Leafs May Be Forced to let William Nylander Walk in Free Agency
The Nylander situation is getting harder to handle, and it's becoming an increasingly better option to let him walk in free agency.
Nylander's Future
Nylander has confirmed that he wants to stay in Toronto. Now, ultimately that has to work for the team as well, and with Matthews signing an extension, the cap room for Nylander continues to shrink.
The Leafs seem to have the following options:
1. Re-sign him to a team-friendly contract
2. Trade him for an elite-defenseman and win the trade
3. Re-sign him to a fair contract
4. Trade him in trade that doesn't make current team worse.
5. Re-sign him to a player-friendly expensive contract
6. Let him walk for nothing, but keep him for one more year
7. Make a good trade for the future that hurts the team right now
8. Make a bad trade right now
As time passes, options 1-3 are getting more and more unlikely. Option 4 could occur, but the bar for a "fair trade" is pretty high, as the Leafs would need to get at least Nylander's value back, and more, since they already know Nylander's current contract for this year is a steal.
So... Let Him Walk?
The biggest mistake the Leafs could make is trading Nylander for the sake of trading him and losing one of the best contracts they have. They also continue to be on the cusp of a Stanley Cup run, so a future-oriented trade isn't the best for the team as well.
Letting Nylander walk would allow the Leafs to take another good stab at the Cup with an extremely valuable Nylander contract as a "rental".
As read on Editor in Leaf - "Toronto Maple Leafs: Letting Nylander Walk Maybe Better Than Trade"
| POLL | ||
AOUT 30 | 981 ANSWERS Maple Leafs May Be Forced to let William Nylander Walk in Free Agency Should the Leafs let Nylander Walk? | ||
| Yes | 380 | 38.7 % |
| No | 601 | 61.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
![Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) looks on against Team Finland in the second period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/531249.webp "Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) looks on against Team Finland in the second period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images")
![Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) looks on against Team Finland in the first period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/531292.webp "Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) looks on against Team Finland in the first period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images")
