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Kyle Dubas is continuing to keep his options open regarding unsigned winger William Nylander. After travelling to New York City on Sunday and speaking to agent Lewis Gross over two days, the Toronto Maple Leafs GM was in an NHL press box for second straight night, watching the Avalanche – Flyers in Philadelphia on Monday.
While there are indicators that the Leafs and Nylander’s camp have maintained an open dialogue on a new deal, there is still some uncertainty on what the term and AAV of the 22-year-old winger’s contract would be.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Nylander did not skate with the Austrian club team that he had been practicing with the last few days, but that could be totally unconnected to any progress in negotiations.
All of the recent signs have been pointing towards a short-term bridge deal due to the inflexibility of Nylander’s camp to come off the $8 Million per season amount on a long-term deal, but Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported on Tuesday that two sides are continuing a “strong dialogue for potential resolution… and that the discussions are centered around a six-year deal (which buys one year of unrestricted free agency).
Kypreos speculates that the price tag would be in the $6.5 to $7 Million range, which would be a dramatic reduction of Nylander’s asking price.
Will the #Leafs have room to keep Gardiner in the fold??? My latest for @sportingnewsca @sn_nhl https://t.co/tBauivAZ6b #TMLTalk #NHL
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) October 22, 2018
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The Leafs skated at the Mastercard Centre in Etobicoke, ON on Tuesday prior to departing for Winnipeg for their meeting with the Jets on Wednesday.
Travis Dermott was back in his usual spot on the bottom pairing with Igor Ozhiganov after Martin Marincin skated in his place on Sunday after the 4-1 loss to St. Louis. The 21-year-old blueliner was -3 in just over 17 minutes against the Blues.
Tyler Ennis and Andreas Johnsson split time on the fourth line with Frederik Gauthier and Josh Leivo. Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has been rotating the wingers in and out of the lineup in recent games, so it is uncertain which one will play against the Jets.
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The Maple Leafs announced that they will open training camp for the 2019-20 season in St. John’s, Newfoundland and host a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators at Mile One Centre (the home rink of their ECHL affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers). The team will start camp with three days of on-ice training in St. John’s on Friday, September 13, 2019, and will open their eight-game pre-season schedule with a match up against the Senators on Tuesday, September 17. “As we’re continually looking to provide memorable experiences for both our fans and players alike, we’re pleased to bring next season’s training camp to St. John’s, Newfoundland – a city and province which has historically meant a lot to the Maple Leafs,… Team President & Alternate Governor Brendan Shanahan said in a press release.
We’ve been very fortunate to host successful camps over the past number of seasons in Niagara Falls and Halifax. It gives our players a chance to connect directly with more of our fans and also reconnect with each other. St. John’s has passionate hockey fans and the Maple Leafs couldn’t be happier than to be coming back.…
Our discussion... on the Leafs offensive offence and the next phase of this Nylander stalemate.
— Norman James (@NormanJamesTLC) October 23, 2018
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