Ducks star cashes in on long-term deal; what are the implications for Nylander here?

It seemed a little odd at first that the Ducks, a team with close to $30 million in open cap space, very few players signed long term, and in a rebuild, would be hesitant in paying one of their more promising young players. With the deal now done, however, none of that seems relevant at this point.

A former 5th round pick back in 2015, Terry has enjoyed back to back successful campaigns with 60 goals and 128 points in 145 games, including a 37-goal season in 2021-22 - on some very bad Anaheim teams, mind you. He leads the Ducks in goals, points, even strength goals, even strength points, and shots in that span to boot.

Every contract that a player within the age range of William Nylander signs has implications on how his negotiations will play out with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the same 2-year span, Nylander has 74 goals and 167 points in 163 games and taking 2018-19 out of the equation, hasn't scored less than 60 points in a full 82-game season. As Nylander is the better player and slightly older than Terry, it begs the question as to whether or not this hurts the Leafs when it comes to their negotiations or whether it helps them.

Nylander is certainly more valuable. The numbers back it up. Nylander's reported ask of 10 million still seems far too egregious, but the Terry contract might make it more likely that he earns $9M+.

However you base your metrics, Nylander is the far better player between the two of them. The $7 million that Terry received was justifiable and well-earned on his part, however with Nylander's camp seeing how things are playing out in the market, they will surely be salivating over the fact that $9 million+ will very likely be the minimum ask from here on out, with the Aho ($9.75M) deal likely being the absolute upper limit from the Leafs' perspective.