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Stalemate between Nylander and Leafs, Nash and Day 2 of camp

September 15, 2018, 10:46 AM ET [120 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs continued the opening week of training camp in Niagara Falls, ON on Saturday, but before the players took to the ice, Kyle Dubas spoke to a group of students in Brock University’s sports business program and when asked about the status of negotiations with William Nylander, the Leafs GM said he wanted to get the restricted free agent signed “as soon as possible”, but that it would have to be a deal friendly to both him and the club.

Nylander (who put consecutive 61-point seasons in the final two years of his entry-level contract) is looking for a long term extension, but according to Elliotte Friedman in his recent ‘31 Thoughts’ column, the winger’s agent Lewis Gross is seeking a deal in the same neighborhood as Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl.

"If we want to sustain success here, we can't be setting any marketplace records," Dubas said. "Sometimes the players might not like it very much, but I'm sure they'd rather win than be on a team that can't.”

Dubas referenced other Leaf players like Morgan Rielly, who took less on contract extensions to make it possible for the team to keep the current group together. Nazem Kadri and John Tavares continued that trend on their deals and the Leafs GM is hoping that Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Jake Gardiner will follow suit.

A continued stalemate could keep Nylander out through the bulk of training camp, based his agent’s history of using that tactic and Dubas needing to be strong in his first test as GM.

Another interesting note from Friedman is the status of free agent winger Rick Nash. The 34-year-old took himself out of the July 1 frenzy after indicating that he was uncertain about his future and considering retirement following another concussion late last season with the Boston Bruins.

The Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights were two clubs that showed interest in Nash last summer and with Toronto having over $13 Million in cap space for this season, they would have the room to sign the veteran winger, if he decides to continue his career and wants to make a potential Cup run later in the season.

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18-year-old Rasmus Sandin is enjoying his first professional training camp, learning some things from veterans like Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, but the 2018 first rounder still does not know where the Leafs will want him to play this season.

"Nothing yet, I haven't heard anything, but I guess they will figure it out soon." Sandin said on Saturday.

The young blueliner scored 45 points as a rookie with Sault Ste. Marie last season and played some pre-season games with Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League, but it is unknown whether he will return to Sweden to play this season or whether he will stay with the Marlies as 2017 first rounder Timothy Liljegren did last season.

On the opposite side of the age scale, veteran Patrick Marleau celebrated his 39th birthday on Saturday and his head coach and some of his younger teammates marveled that he has been able to maintain his top end hockey skills for 21 seasons.




“He’s 39 today and he can still fly. He’s had an unbelievable career and he knows how to score, so it kinda speaks for itself.” Auston Matthews said. He’s a great guy, he’s so fun to be around, he’s nice to everybody and I’m excited to play with him this year.”

Other players, such as former linemate Mitch Marner, tried to take some things that Marleau does to improve their performance, such as the veteran’s routine of jumping into an ice bath after every period and the game, but the young Leafs winger stopped after a couple weeks.

“It wasn’t that bad, I just didn’t care to do it anymore.” Marner said.


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