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With a number of players ramping up their on-ice activity at the Mastercard Centre just over a week ahead of the opening of training camp, the Toronto Maple Leafs still have to get restricted free agent William Nylander signed to a new contract.
Nylander said last month that he is looking to sign a long-term deal with the Leafs, but GM Kyle Dubas is holding fast to the patient approach that would likely give the speedy Swede a significant pay increase, but to a number that does not hamper the club down the line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner also needing new contracts next summer.
“There’s a lot of players and a lot of teams in the league that have players in these situations and we are continuing to work towards a solution and I am confident we will get there,… Dubas said regarding negotiations with Nylander to TSN’s Bob McKenzie on Wednesday.
If an impasse lasts into training camp, the Leafs GM expects that Nylander would not report until a new deal is signed. That could increase the chances of a bridge deal.
“I think the mechanics of it relative to the salary cap are always important. On a longer-term deal, the players are giving up more of their bargain rights in terms of unrestricted free agent years and thus their pay relative to our salary cap goes higher.… Dubas said. “We always have to keep that in mind and realize how that fits into our puzzle. On (Nylander, Marner and Matthews), we envision them regardless of their contracts in the intermediate sense, believe they’re all long-term parts of our team and we hope that they’ll be here for their whole careers.…
Dubas indicated that negotiations are continuing with Marner and Matthews representatives on new deals, but with them entering the final year of their entry-level contracts, there is no deadline to get a new deal done and that makes the odds slime of getting either signed to an extension before the beginning of the regular season.
“I wouldn’t say (getting them signed) is all too likely.… Dubas said. “It’s been a very patient process on all parts and that is more on the team than it is the players. We believe that if a player is going to commit that long to a team in a long-term agreement, that we want them to be fully comfortable into what they’re getting into and that’s the approach we’ve taken with them and have had good discussions with Judd Moldaver (Matthews agent) and with Darren Ferris (Marner’s representative).…
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