VIDEO: Maple Leafs Salute to William Nylander at Practice Following Team-Record $92 Million Extension
After concluding Monday's practice, Nylander was forced to lead the stretches and teammates gave him a stick tap salute.
Morgan Rielly couldn't help but smile when asked how long he knew about William Nylander's new deal with the Leafs.
"Um, It’s been floating around for a bit," Rielly said.
Nylander signed a new eight-year, $92 million extension with the Maple Leafs on Monday. Reports surfaced that the forward was closing in on an extension on Saturday. Nylander couldn't hide his smile when asked about it following his team's 4-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks.
"We'll see," he said when asked if he was close."
His teammates were well aware of what was going on, including team captain John Tavares.
"We have fun with it," Tavares said on Monday. "It's a good way to push it over the line."
When the Maple Leafs practice, they usually conclude the session with Tavares getting in the middle of the ice to lead the stretches. This time it was Nylander and the players saluted the Swedish forward with a stick tap salute.
"For the last couple of days they were just…congrats," Nylander said. "Bert (Tyler Bertuizz) passed me the puck for those last two goals (on Saturday) and said 'You’re welcome'".
Nylander becomes the second-highest-paid player on the Maple Leafs on an average annual basis beginning in 2024-25 at $11.5 million per season. Auston Matthews' signed a four-year, $53 million contract extension in August and is the highest-paid Leaf at 13.25 million per year.
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