Unnerving update on William Nylander’s contract situation in Toronto…

Ever since the start of the 2023-24 season, Toronto Maple Leafs star forward William Nylander has established himself among NHL’s elite amid contract-year pressure. However, general manager Brad Treliving remains cool and quite secretive about the negotiations. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman kicked off his weekly 32 Thoughts column with an overall view of the situation in Toronto and mentioned how his colleagues Justin Bourne and Nick Kypreos had attempted to find out more about the contract stalemate when interviewing Treliving. However, the GM “swatted their attempts into the 15th row like prime Dikembe Mutombo.”

However Friedman analyzed his demeanour and made the following comment on the update or lack thereof when it comes to Nylander re-signing in Toronto:

“Talks with Nylander have been on and off, with at least one face-to-face meeting with the winger’s representatives when the Maple Leafs played in Washington in October. There’s no need to panic, no bad news, but nothing to report on that subject, yet.”

I want to see the positive here, but it feels like the star forward has been hoping for more developments in this situation. Fans also responded to Friedman's report and tweet asking if that how that did not sound like bad news...

When the season got underway, Nylander revealed being comfortable with negotiations during the campaign, entrusting his agent with talks with the Maple Leafs. But Friedman tells it like it is, and maybe, just maybe in this case no news does not mean good news…

However, the Maple Leafs and their general manager aren’t the only ones tight-lipped about the contract negotiations as Nylander started the new season by saying he wants to remain in Toronto but would not answer any more questions regarding the negotiations.

He is currently playing the final year of a six-year, $45-million deal he signed in 2018. It was reported earlier in the summer that both sides weren’t close on a number for Nylander’s next contract.

I can only imagine that with Nylander’s statistics so far this year, his number might have gone even higher.

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