William Nylander asked to answer rumours of imminent contract extension

While Toronto was in action against the Kings in Los Angeles, getting a 3-0 win, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos was reporting that the Maple Leafs and star forward William Nylander are getting closer to a deal, which could carry an AAV of over $11 million.

“It’s trending closer to the Leafs and Willy getting a deal done, is what I hear,” Kypreos said.

"The other belief is that it will be a number that's over [$11 million]. $11.25 million is the one that is probably mentioned the most. Times eight."

He even added that there is a sense he Maple Leafs and Nylander’s camp want to have the deal done before NHL All-Star Weekend (Feb. 1-3).

With chatter that we could be inching closer to a contract between the two camps, reports asked the 27-year-old in the dressing room about the reported deal.

However, Nylander was not going to go against what he warned media about at the start of the season. He does not wish to comment about the negotiations and kept the same attitude and answer when asked about it late on Tuesday night.

“Like I said, I’m not going to answer any questions on that.”

I completely understand why the Swedish forward has had enough of questions and rumours about his future, more specifically in Toronto. At the moment, Nylander is having a career-year and probably wants to focus solely on his production and making sure he can bring the Maple Leafs to a long and successful playoff run. He kicked off the 2023-24 campaign red hot with a Maple Leafs record for the longest point streak to start a season, which ended at 17 games and has posted 19 goals and 31 assists in 35 games this season, tied for the fifth-most points in the NHL alongside Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak. He is on pace for 45 goals and 117 points this season. 

Those hockey numbers come first for Nylander, who is in the final year of a six-year, $45 million contract he signed in Dec. 2018.

However, I guess if reporters were not going to asked about Kypreos’ rumoured report of both camps trending towards a new deal, fans would have called them out for not trying to get an answer or comment.

Damn if you do, damn if you don’t…

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