from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,
So I reached out to team executives in rival front offices across the NHL and asked them a simple question: What do you feel a fair contract extension for Nylander would be?
Team exec No. 2
“I don’t see how it’s less than $11 million, given the rising cap and the season he’s having … unless he wants to take a discount to go to a destination of choice. On a seven- to eight-year deal, that is.”
Team exec No. 3
“My guess is that it comes in around $10.5 to $11 million, depending on the term.”
Team exec No. 4
“Difficult question, Pierre. What is fair and what will happen are two different things (smiley face emoji). He will be 28, has never hit 90 points (although certainly seems he will this season) and has never been past the second round of the playoffs, and only there once. But our system pays on points — rightly or wrongly — and he will have a strong case. Does he help Toronto win more than Matthew Tkachuk at $9.5 million? Probably not. But the cap is going up and Toronto pays a tax premium. $10 million (average annual value), full term. Probably gets more but fair is arbitrary.”
more ($) input
In the end it does matter what you or I think he's worth. All it takes is one team to think he's worth $11M+ and that sets the market. I think it is pretty absurd to think Nylander is going to settle for less than $10M to stay in Toronto although the extra year they can offer could offset things a bit.
Honestly, it is a bit hard to see more than a few teams with enough space to fit a big contract AND interest Nylander but some will find a way. With the cap finally headed up, it wouldn't be a shock for him to get multiple $11M offers.
If I'm Nylander, I want to hit the open market. To prevent that Toronto better be willing to offer 8 years and it better be well North of $10M. If I'm Toronto, I don't pussy foot around. Make him your best offer before the trade deadline and seriously consider trading him (for what should be a big haul) to a Western Conference team if his salary won't fit. But as a Wing fan. I hope they lose him for nothing including no parade with him.
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.