It's been all quiet on the William Nylander front when it comes to any progress being made on a contract extension. Nylander has posted several photos on social media in recent weeks and appears to be traveling a lot this summer, so he appears to be leaving the negotiations in the hands of the Leafs and his agent, Lewis Gross.
We know from Gross' history that he's not afraid of holding out and standing firm on his position, as we've seen in the past with the Johnny Gaudreau negotiations, the Rasmus Sandin negotiations and, as we're all well aware, the original William Nylander negotiations, holding out straight through until the December 1st signing deadline back in 2018.
There have been several suggestions from some very credible hockey minds throughout the early stages of the summer that the Leafs would be open to considering trade options for Nylander if the two sides cannot find common ground on a new deal. With Nylander's ask in excess of $10M per season, while the Leafs are countering with an offer believed to be less than $9M, there's a lot of ground to make up here to try to close that gap.
An interesting trade rumour has popped up on Saturday, with Hockey Buzz creator, Eklund, suggesting that the Leafs may actually be engaged in discussions with the Calgary Flames over a deal that would send Nylander to the Flames in a package that would be centered around defenseman Noah Hanifin.
All rumours should be taken with a grain of salt, but it's important to acknowledge the fact that not only was Nylander born in Calgary, but that Brad Treliving has a pre-existing relationship with Noah Hanifin as well, having traded for him once before.
Not all rumours come to fruition, but sometimes, where there's smoke, there's fire. It will be interesting to see where this one goes.
