from TSN,

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell confirmed Thursday that he is interested in acquiring William Nylander, but said he believes the Toronto Maple Leafs still hope to re-sign the restricted free agent.

"I think the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to sign the player, which, if I was the team, I would be doing the same thing because he's a very good player and it's hard to make those trades," Waddell told First Up on TSN Radio 1050 Toronto. "I've been in those spots before, trading Dany Heatley, Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk... They're never easy to make a trade and feel like you got full value. So as a team trying to keep your good players, that's your first priority."

Waddell said the Hurricanes are among the teams that have reached out to Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas regarding Nylander, though he said part of the talks have simply focused on gaining insight for their own RFA negotiations.

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