Wayne Gretzky reveals what Matthews and Nylander have to do to win in Toronto

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Julien Trekker
July 11, 2023 (12:28)

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Issues in the Negotiations for Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

We revealed a major issue with the extension negotiations for Matthews and Nylander earlier today.

If you missed it, see: Major Setback in Matthews and Nylander's Negotiations

But there's a way to fix the problem, and Wayne Gretzky exposed it during an interview.

Gretzky Reveals What the Leafs Need to Do to Win

According to Gretzky, it's simple: they need to accept lower salaries if they want to be part of a competitive team.

Here's what he said:

"Well, listen - there's only so much money to go around, right? That's where Brad Treliving has to sit down and figure out with his coaching staff, 'how does everybody fit in here?'. Obviously, you don't want to lose Auston Matthews. He's one of the top 3 or 4 players in the National Hockey League... I don't know what Brad's plan is, but obviously, you want to get one of the elite players ever to play the game re-signed.

In the old days, you just kept everybody, right? And you look at LA, they won two Stanley Cups. They had to rebuild because of the salary cap... Chicago won 3 Cups and basically had to tear down the organization, and now they're rebuilding.

I hope that players make as much money as they can. I hope they earn all the money that they make, but let's be honest; Connor [McDavid] is probably signed to a discount now. Auston [Matthews] is probably going to sign for a little bit of a discount because, at the end of the day, after you've played 7 or 8 years, it's no fun being knocked out in the 1st round or 2nd round.

Unfortunately for guys like Connor [McDavid] and Auston [Matthews] and Nathan MacKinnon - you've gotta leave some money in the pot because you need some teammates to be able to win a Stanley Cup, right?

It comes down to personal choice. Do I take all the money I can and basically maybe get knocked out in the 1st round? Or do I take a little bit less and show the team and show the organization that I want to win a Stanley Cup? - Wayne Gretzky on the idea of Auston Matthews and other star players needing to take less to help the team win."

You can listen to the full interview in the link below:

Gretzky has a good point. It's unfortunate that Matthews won't sign before Nylander does, and Nylander won't accept a lower pay unless Matthews does it too.

It looks like the situation won't change until one of them matures a bit...

Do you think William Nylander will be traded?

As seen on Maple Leafs Daily -
Wayne Gretzky emphasizes the need for Auston Matthews and William Nylander to take less in order to win