Now that the Leafs and Brad Treliving have locked up Auston Matthews for another four years, all of the attention has turned to pending UFA William Nylander. The Leafs and Nylander have been at a standstill in negotiations since the beginning and neither has been willing to make concessions.
Nylander is entering the final year of a 6-year deal that he signed at the very last moment in 2018, paying him $6.96M per season. Reports have indicated that he is seeking $10M+ per season on a long-term extension. Additional reports have said the Leafs would like to sign him for somewhere between $8M and $9M per season. Neither side has been willing to come off their asking price and Nylander even revealed in an interview on the European media tour earlier this week that there had not been any recent talks with Brad Treliving, nor is he in any rush to continue those talks, with a full year remaining on his current contract.
Neither Nylander nor Treliving seem to be concerned, or as concerned as Leaf fans are. Nylander, in that same interview, said that he hopes to remain a Leaf and that Toronto is where he wants to be. He also stated that there is lots of time, although it would be nice to have something done by camp. Treliving, who was asked specifically about Nylander negotiations during his media availability following the Matthews' signing, dodged questions regarding Nylander this week. He did offer one single thought on the subject, though.
