Elliotte Friedman Reveals Major News About William Nylander After Signing
The talk of the NHL recently has been the huge deal for William Nylander, but this summer, things could have been drastically different.
Nylander almost moved for blue line help this past summer?
According to prominent NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs were exploring the idea of a trade for Nylander this past summer, eyeing off a top defenseman to improve their blue line issues.
"I think this is the key thing. I think over the summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs made it clear they would consider trading William Nylander for a top defenseman and there just wasn't anything out there. Part of the reason is that teams that were going to trade for him didn't know if they were going to be able to sign him. So, nobody is trading a top defenseman or a really good defenseman for a Nylander that you don't know if you're going to be able to sign. Look at how hard this negotiation was going to be for Toronto. It wasn't going to be any easier anywhere else. So that made it difficult for Toronto to make a deal, they had no deal to make.
I think from the beginning of the season until just before Christmas when Toronto re-engaged, and I think a lot of this started again just after their trip to Sweden... I think the Maple Leafs went through the league and said 'if we let him go and we use that money on the blueline, who is the defenseman we could go get and be impactful enough to fix the loss of Nylander and his production?...They said there is not a defenseman they can get their hands on who is worth losing this player."
I think from the beginning of the season until just before Christmas when Toronto re-engaged, and I think a lot of this started again just after their trip to Sweden... I think the Maple Leafs went through the league and said 'if we let him go and we use that money on the blueline, who is the defenseman we could go get and be impactful enough to fix the loss of Nylander and his production?...They said there is not a defenseman they can get their hands on who is worth losing this player."
However, a key deterrent in making this type of trade for Toronto was the uncertainty for other teams about an extension, and with no guarantee in place, it's no surprise that a team didn't want to part ways with a game-breaking blue liner.
Toronto is home for the 27-year old
Since the deal went through, Nylander has opened up and said that Toronto is his home and he wants to retire a Maple Leaf, and it appears as though potential trade partners got the sense that this was true and didn't see him signing long-term anywhere else.
The Maple Leafs will still likely look to upgrade on the blue line at the trade deadline, but with Nylander now locked in alongside Matthews, Marner and Tavares, it makes that type of deal much, much harder to come by.
As Read on Puck Reporter - Elliotte Friedman Reports That A Major William Nylander Trade Fell Apart
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 8|67 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman Reveals Major News About William Nylander After Signing Will Nylander retire as a member of the Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 28 | 41.8 % |
| No | 39 | 58.2 % |
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