What Will the Toronto Maple Leafs Do With William Nylander?

William Nylander is heading into the final year of his contract. There are rumors and speculation about what his future could be with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving is currently engaged in contract extension talks with Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

During a July 18 appearance on the NHL Network, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Matthews and Leafs management could be closing in on a three- to five-year contract, though there's no word as to what the average annual value will be.

As for Nylander, Friedman said their discussions remain at a standstill. That's little changed from TSN's Chris Johnston's July 3 report indicating the 27-year-old winger's contract talks “weren't going well.”

Johnston said Nylander sees himself as a $10-million player while the Leafs were offering between $8 million and $9 million annually. That's quite a pay raise over his current cap hit of about $6.962 million.

Nylander makes a good case, as he's coming off back-to-back campaigns of at least 80 points while seeing second-line minutes. Friedman pointed out he won't take less to stay in Toronto if other teammates won't.

On July 4, Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos pointed out there won't be enough money to re-sign Mitch Marner in 2025 if the Leafs meet Nylander's asking price. His co-host Sam McKee believes they'll have to trade Nylander because they can't risk losing Marner.

The Athletic's Jonas Siegel noted it feels like Treliving must sign or trade Nylander. However, he felt that a third option is keeping the winger for the coming season, competing for the Stanley Cup, and hoping to re-sign him before July 1.

Treliving went through a similar situation as Calgary Flames GM in 2021-22 with Johnny Gaudreau, only to watch the winger depart to Columbus as a free agent. He could be reluctant to risk the same thing happening with Nylander.