Insider Confirms Leafs Had Deal in Place to Send William Nylander to Western Conference Team

Nylander tallied goals number 31, 32 and 33 on Tuesday night against his 'hometown' Calgary Flames. His 3-goal effort propelled the Leafs to a 6-3 win and got his teammates the day off Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Daily Faceoff's Jeff Marek revealed on his 'The Sheet' podcast, while discussing Nylander's performance, that not long ago, the Leafs had a deal on the table to send the former first-round pick to the St. Louis Blues in 2018.

At the time, Nylander was eligible to sign an extension, but held out until the following December when he signed his six-year deal, which expired at the end of last season. Pietrangelo was in the middle of a seven-year deal with the Blues at the time.

Had the deal been made, it would have sent shockwaves through the NHL and changed the course of both franchises. The Leafs would have had a top-pairing defenseman to play with Morgan Rielly, or replace him with, but they would have lost arguably their best playoff and most consistent day-to-day performer.

Conversely, the Blues may not have won the Stanley Cup in 2019, having dealt their best defenseman.

Nylander is in the first year of his eight-year extension that he signed last January, and he's living up to his $11.5M cap hit with 33 goals and 55 points in 53 games this season.