William Nylander in Montreal: a last-minute development emerges and it doesn't bode well for Kent Hughes
With the start of the new season coinciding with Auston Matthews and William Nylander's last contract year in Toronto, many rumors and speculations have surfaced about the future of the two players with the Maple Leafs.
While Matthews is likely to be the team's priority, who is undoubtedly set to become the league's highest-paid player, the Swede's situation remains cloudy.
Unless there's a significant increase in the salary cap, the Leafs will face a huge puzzle to keep both stars with their respective pay raises, while retaining enough money to build a competitive 23-player roster.
Moreover, because of the potential availability of a star forward like Nylander on the market, he has been linked to several teams, including the Montreal Canadiens. Renowned journalist Arpon Basu even speculated that a contract offer should be made by Kent Hughes if he were to test free agency.
In connection with all the attention the rumors about him have generated in recent weeks, the esteemed Elliotte Friedman interviewed Nylander and asked a few questions, and one of his answers caught significant attention.
From the player's comments, we can infer that his goal will be to stay in Toronto, which is good news for this organization. Let's just say it doesn't look very promising for him to test the market in the summer of 2024.
However, even if the Leafs will have over $46M available next year to spend on new deals for Matthews and Nylander, there will only be eleven players under contract for the 2024-2025 season.
Considering that the two stars are expected to take almost $25M combined, that would leave only $20M to agree with about ten regular players, which is extremely little.
It will be interesting to follow this issue in the coming months, but at some point, there won't be enough money to sign a decent team if the team's offensive core of four players makes up nearly 60% of the payroll.
Credit : Fanadiens.com
| POLL | ||
Do you believe that William Nylander and Auston Matthews will still be in Toronto for the 2024-2025 season? | ||
| Yes, both of them | 141 | 29.3 % |
| Only Matthews | 305 | 63.3 % |
| Only Nylander | 7 | 1.5 % |
| None of the two | 29 | 6 % |
| List of polls | ||
