We are now six weeks past July 1st, the date on which Auston Matthews and William Nylander were eligible to sign extensions and yet, it has been unusually quiet. Throughout the past six weeks, reports have indicated that Matthews' extension is essentially done, and that signing is more of a formality at this point. The deal is expected to come in somewhere between 3 and 5 years and between $13M and $14M per season. Nylander, on the other hand, has been at a standstill as he and the Leafs remain far apart on the dollar amount.
Today on TSN 1050's First Up, former Leaf and co-host of the show, Carlo Colaiacovo, provided an update on both extensions.
"My feeling hasn't changed. My understanding, everyone's understanding is the [Matthews] deal is done. I don't know what they're waiting for to announce it... Maybe they're waiting to announce it sometime before training camp when Matthews is in town so he can do all of his interviews that come with signing a contract like that. I don't sit here today worrying about it one bit. I don't see what could have changed from two weeks ago when people were saying it was a done deal."
Colaiacovo believes that the timing of Matthews signing his deal is important and that we shouldn't sweat the fact that he hasn't signed. Nylander, however, is a different story, as Colaiacovo went on to explain.
"Let me tell you something about Nylander... Nothing's going on with Nylander. He's not signing, he's not getting traded. He's gonna play out the final year of his contract... They've tried to get him signed, it's becoming more of a difficult situation. The market for a trade doesn't exist the way the Leafs would like to see a package present. Think about it, if you're a team right now and you want a player like Nylander, are you willing to give up a first and a couple prospects and maybe an impact player on your roster for a guy that is demanding 8-years and $10M per year. Why would anyone make that trade and why are the Leafs going to sell low on a 40-goal scorer?"
It's tough to imagine the Leafs without Nylander and it's tough to imagine the Leafs signing him at $10M+. This is a situation that seems to have no good outcome, unless Nylander approaches his agent and lowers his original ask to get a deal done.
