With players reporting to training camp today, William Nylander is a no-show for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tyler Ennis will get a chance to take Nylander’s spot with Auston Matthews.
Since taking as General Manager, Kyle Dubas can do no wrong in the eyes of Toronto Maple Leafs fans. Signing local kid John Tavares led to a honeymoon period, but now the pressure will start to turn up on him. William Nylander, one of the best young forwards in hockey and Auston Matthews’ right-hand man, doesn’t have a contract yet.
TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that Nylander’s camp is seeking a long-term deal with an AAV of $8 million per year. Dreger is one of the more well-connected people in the sport, so I trust his reporting, and if this is in fact what Nylander is asking for, that could be a problem.
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Dubas proclaimed when asked after the signing of Tavares, that the team ” can and will” sign Nylander, Marner and Matthews, and while Leafs fan shouldn’t panic just yet, its getting closer to that. The start of training camp for the Leafs should have been filled with excitement and optimism, and now the cloud of Nylander’s absence is raining on the parade.
With Nylander not reporting yet, Mike Babcock is giving the first opportunity to play with Matthews to an interesting player.
Tyler Ennis
Babcock had his first media availability of the season this morning, and had an interesting choice for who will replace Nylander to start, until his contract is resolved.
Kyle Dubas mentions that Tyler Ennis will start with Auston Matthews. There's your William Nylander replacement, presumably, for the short term.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) September 13, 2018
Ennis is a speedy, skilled forward, but is a left-hand shot, that would be playing his off wing on that line, and has a lengthy injury history. Nylander could sign tomorrow making this a mute point, but the Leafs have so many better options than Ennis to replace Nylander at this point.
To me, Kasperi Kapanan would be the perfect replacement to play alongside Matthews and Marleau. He is arguably the Leafs fastest skater, which would create opportunities, as well as having a good shot that has been underutilized based on where he has played in the lineup to this point.
If the Nylander situation drags out, a lot of fans will want Marner to play with Matthews, and as much as I have screamed for Babcock do this over the past couple seasons, Marner should stay with Tavares. There are plenty of other options to play with Mathews, that Babcock doesn’t need to separate a potentially lethal combo.
Conclusion
The fact the Leafs and Nylander haven’t been able to work something out yet is disappointing. There are enough comparable contracts out there, such as Pastrnak and Ehlers, where this deal should be done. Can’t blame a player and his agent for trying to maximize their earnings, but Nylander is young, and will have a chance to earn another big contract after this one.
The Leafs are in a Stanley Cup window. Now is the time for players to take a little less in order to keep the team’s core together for years to come. This team can special, and the topic of conversation shouldn’t be Ennis playing with Matthews. Sign the contract, William.