The 2018-19 NHL Season Starts Tonight And William Nylander Still Doesn't Have A Contract
I mean… I get it. Toronto is probably in the trickiest cap situation right now in the league. You just paid John Tavares $11M for the next 7 years. You’re going to have to pay Auston Matthews at least that, if not more for the next 8 seasons after this one. Mitch Marner also needs a new contract after this season and you have to imagine that eventually, the Toronto Maple Leafs will need to pay for a top level defenseman. So it’s not like they necessarily have a ton of money to just be throwing around all willy-nilly (no pun intended) and it’s not like they can afford to give in with a gun pointed to their head. But still. The Toronto Maple Leafs have game 1 of 82 tonight at 7pm with the Montreal Canadiens coming in to Scotiabank Arena. And unless something happens over the course of the next few hours here, William Nylander will still be without a contract as the 2018-19 NHL season gets underway.
It was funny in the beginning of the summer thinking about how Kyle Dubas was going to work everything out after signing Tavares. It was funny a few weeks ago when training camp started and Nylander still wasn’t there. But now that the regular season is about to begin and there’s still nothing? It’s getting harder to think of a way that this ends with William Nylander remaining with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The longer this goes on, the more it seems like there’s going to end up being a sign and trade. Which, ya know, probably wouldn’t be great for Toronto. This team is loaded up the middle with Tavares, Matthews and Kadri as their top 3 centers. Marner is a stud, Marleau brings some stability, but without Nylander? It’s not like this team necessarily has a ton to work with on the wings. Now a sign and trade would obviously mean that they’re bringing back a pretty solid value that will add a lot to their lineup. But I think a lot of people penciled in the Leafs as a serious Cup contender after bringing in Tavares. However, the addition there takes a serious hit if it also means losing Nylander.
So here is my final prediction on how things are going to work out between Will Ny The Wrist Shot Guy and the Toronto Maple Leafs. I think the Leafs are going to go down 2-0 to the Habs tonight after 2 periods. Then heading into the 2nd intermission, William Nylander is going to sign his contract and show up in the locker room like Dean Portman in D3: The Mighty Ducks. He’s going to come out and have a hat trick in the 3rd period to give Toronto the win. Then he’s going to retire and the contract is going to be so front loaded that Toronto gets ass blasted by salary recapture penalties. The end.