Nylander Signs Just In Time

Well, it came down to the very last minute, but the announcement came and all is well in the centre of the universe... for now.

William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed on a 6-year deal, worth $41.4 million in total.  The cap math does get to be a little bit more interesting, as the late signing rules go in the CBA, Nylander's actual cap hit in the 2019 season works out to be $10.2 million, but for the remainder of the deal, it will work out to $6.969 million per season.

For a complete breakdown of how his cap hit for the 2019 season works out, check out CapFriendly's page for this sort of mumbo-jumbo.

Nylander held out as long as he possibly could to get the best deal he possibly could, convinced that his three seasons of fairly consistent scoring was going to be worth a bundle, even for his second contract signed with the team.  Last season, Nylander finished 64th among all forwards in scoring with 20 goals and 61 points in 82 games, so he'll have to bring that kind of scoring rate to the remainder of the season for any sort of positive return on this deal.

The Leafs have already played 26 games and will play again tonight in Minnesota, he'll probably need a week or two to get back up to speed with his teammates, which could cost him upwards of six games, including tonight, missing 32 and leaving 50 on the table.  At his scoring rate last season, that would put him in around 37 points for the remainder of the year.  That should be the target.

Nylander certainly won't save Brenda & Seward's season in the overall standings, already 85 points out of 1st place, but it could get them back into some mini-games for the rest of the year.  Game-winners, they have 8 so far, only 8 behind the leader.  Shootout goals, no goals on one attempt... the leader is 5-for-7.  You never know!