One of the biggest stories so far this season has been the play of William Nylander. He has been one of the best players in the league all season long.
He is currently leading the Toronto Maple Leafs in points with 54. Only Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Artemi Panarin, and David Pastrnak have more.
The fact that Nylander leads his team in scoring is impressive considering that his teammate Auston Matthews already has 30 goals.
What is it that makes Nylander so productive? Well, he is a threat to shoot and pass more than a lot of top stars in the league. It is hard to say which way he leans considering he does both so well.
When Nylander has the puck, you have to know he could make a perfect pass or take a shot that has a chance to beat a goalie. He is not much of a liability on defense either.
William Nylander is getting a new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs
At his current pace, he would blow past 120 points on the season. That is about as good of an offensive season as you can have in the NHL these days.
He has been playing all season as a pending unrestricted free agent. Lots of fanbases have been thinking about what it would be like to have Nylander on their team next year.
Unfortunately for them, that is not going to be the case. Nylander has a new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. This is a contract worth $92 million. It is an eight-year deal with an average annual value of 11.5 million. He is getting a full no-move clause.
Nylander is going to be the fourth player on the team making over $10 million against the salary cap next season. He will join Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner.
Marner and Tavares each only have one more season (2024-25) left on their deals. For that one season, the Leafs will have over $40 million against the cap for four players.
You can't help but wonder if they trade one of Marner or Tavares but moving either of them would be hard for different reasons.
For now, Nylander can enjoy the fact that he is extra rich and has some stability going forward. He will be a Toronto Maple Leaf for a very long time.
He picked a great year to be on pace for this career season. It got him paid and term with the only NHL team he's ever played for.
With guys like Auston Matthews and William Nylander signed up for a long time the way that they are, the Maple Leafs should be a championship competitor for a long time. They need to keep surrounding these guys for a long time.
The future of some other stars is in question now more than it was a day ago but those are problems to be worked out later on. The time to win is now.