Maple Leafs Rumors: Insider Questions Nylander's Future With Club

When new Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving took the job, he knew he wouldn't be wading into the shallow end... He's in deep, right off the bat. And July 1st—just five days away—is the first tipping point. 

Both Auston Matthews and William Nylander are eligible to sign extensions, as both of their contracts expire after the coming season. In addition, both have no-trade clauses coming into effect on that date—Matthews a full no-move, and Nylander a partial no-trade. 

NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, on his Monday morning 32 Thoughts podcast, has questioned Nylander's status in particular, wondering what his future holds with the club if an extension is not signed.

Toronto's got a lot of big decisions to make... Well, now it's decision time... If they don't have an indication that Nylander is gonna sign by July 1st, I'm really curious to see what they're gonna do here. Are they really gonna go into a position where both Matthews and Nylander aren't signed?

To be clear, there's no definitive indication yet whether either are going to be signing or not, though Friedman does believe that Matthews will ink some sort of bridge deal, or longer. 

As for Nylander, he would be prime trade bait—for this season, at least—as his $6.96M cap hit is a bargain, coming off his first 40-goal season to go along with a career-high 87 points in 82 games. He also netted 10 points in 11 playoff games. 

But the last negotiations with Nylander proved to be exhausting, at the time, as a standoff and holdout lasted well into the season; he didn't suit up until Dec. 6th, missing the first month-and-a-half of the 2018-19 campaign.

His next contract will once again contain a hefty raise, and it will be intriguing, indeed, to see how Treliving approaches his situation. 

 Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports