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The Will Nye Contract Dispute thread

LeafGm

Well-known member
After posting some Nylander contract-dispute commentary in our "****ing Season" thread, I figured that until he signs a contract and shows up back here to play, maybe we should have a separate thread for all the discussions and news about the contract stalemate between Nylander and the Leafs.

Now that the team's about to start playing games again, there's just too much other good stuff to focus on without this one remnant of the off-season constantly popping up in discussions.
 
Its crazy that a player like Nylander is holding out and no one gives a **** because of how many other great players we have.

His team is miscalculating here.

Like if this was Kessel in 2014 I get it. But Nylander isn't winning this one.
 
Yeah, it's a pretty nice luxury to have enough forward depth that no one seems to be at all concerned about Willy.
 
Once he signs, all will be forgotten - and hopefully the rest of the guys (Mitch particularly) see it as something they'll want to avoid going into RFA.

I liked the parallel to the Gaudreau situation (same agent), but the Flames might have flinched first given his importance to the team.

If I were Dubas, I would have put a signing bonus heavy contract down to start, with calendar triggers that push the bonus back into the contract structure. Not punishing in total value of the contract - but an incentive to sign sooner.
 
If he hasn’t signed soon, I’d question if we want him long term. Could fetch a decent package and we could use the money on Karlsson next year instead (lots of assumptions here, but I can dream).
 
You know, if the leafs get off to a hot start, scoring plenty of goals. It will make you question whether paying 7 million for Willie long term is the right fit for the team or whether those dollars are better spent finding a young stud D man.

I have been convinced that the key to multiple cups is getting Willie, Mitch AND Matthews all locked up. But if the leafs perform without any hiccups without Willie it makes you question how important he really is. Perhaps he becomes more important when Marleau declines.

Overall, interested to see where this goes but I hope Dubas "wins" this.
 
You know, if the leafs get off to a hot start, scoring plenty of goals. It will make you question whether paying 7 million for Willie long term is the right fit for the team or whether those dollars are better spent finding a young stud D man.

I have been convinced that the key to multiple cups is getting Willie, Mitch AND Matthews all locked up. But if the leafs perform without any hiccups without Willie it makes you question how important he really is. Perhaps he becomes more important when Marleau declines.

Overall, interested to see where this goes but I hope Dubas "wins" this.

I don't think Willy will sit out for a large enough chunk of games to really give a proper indication of how much we do or don't miss him.

And as much as all of us are not concerned about him holding out right now, I think that calculus changes when you're talking about removing him from our lineup forever.

The only way it really makes sense to me to move Willy is in a Jones for Johansen type deal. And even then, it's tough to find many young D I would want to swap Willy for 1 for 1.
 
Our elite talent upfront is an embarrassment of riches. You don't need all of them to compete, but that doesn't mean that having all of them isn't a massive benefit. It is.

They are a great team with or without Willy. But they are a lot better with him.
 
I gotta admit, I'm turning a bit sour on Nylander for this hold out. The reason being is that Dubas is a very fair and reasonable guy and Nylander has to balance his personal want with helping to keep the team together long-term. It's starting to look like Nylander is being selfish here and not willing to do what is needed for the long-term health of the team.

That's his prerogative but he'll become less popular if this doesn't get done soon.
 
Tavares took a lot less himself to be here.
There's nothing wrong with wanting maximum $, but he clearly won't get it on this team.
If this goes long you do have to consider a trade.
 
Take the emotions out of it. You don't know what's going on behind closed doors. This could easily be the kids biggest contract in his entire career so of course he's going to want to make sure he gets paid. By all accounts they are basically only looking at long-term deals. It's not an easy contract on either end to make.


If they go 8 years this eats up quite a bit of Ufa years. He rightfully would want to get compensated for that and personally, I don't mind increasing the price a bit if they get him for the full 8. If it's in the 7 mil range, that will be a steal by year 3 or 4 (and as the cap continues to rise, especially after the Seattle year).
 
If the leafs get off to a hot start and Nylander signs for a team friendly benefit, then I could see the leafs making a deal with him included. But then if it is team friendly, why not just wait the next 2 seasons for the 2 youngsters to arrive and look at a 1a fa dman in another 2 seasons when there will be more cap space available
 
Take the emotions out of it. You don't know what's going on behind closed doors. This could easily be the kids biggest contract in his entire career so of course he's going to want to make sure he gets paid. By all accounts they are basically only looking at long-term deals. It's not an easy contract on either end to make.


If they go 8 years this eats up quite a bit of Ufa years. He rightfully would want to get compensated for that and personally, I don't mind increasing the price a bit if they get him for the full 8. If it's in the 7 mil range, that will be a steal by year 3 or 4 (and as the cap continues to rise, especially after the Seattle year).


Ya I agree, easy to say he's being greedy. If you were in the same situation, looking at a potential 7-8 year deal, are you leaving $8million or something on the table because hockey is fun and your team is good? Probably not.

We have no idea how far apart they are, no idea if a bridge deal is even an option etc. Being down on Nylander for not signing yet is as bad as the people who are down on Dubas for not getting him signed.

That said, I don't see how he wins this. But my opinion of him isn't going to change based on this hold out.
 
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If Nylander wants to max his earnings -- his prerogative, as I said. It will, however, negatively affect the competitiveness of the team I follow. So, yeah, it will affect how I see the guy. Same thing if Dubas signs such a deal -- would not be impressed for the same reason and it would likely change the way I view his GM skills to some extent.
 
I still don't have any negative feelings towards Nylander as of yet. Not with the lack of concrete information that's out there.

I do question his strategy here, though.
 
I think it boils down to perception. He doesn’t want to make substantially less than Marner.

If they’re offering him $6m, and he’s figuring they’ll offer Marner $8m or more, he’s probably taking the position that they should each get $7m, because why should Willy take less so Mitch can get more? Now, Marner has demonstrated that he’s a better player and that’s why, but Willy likely doesn’t see it that way. He probably thinks he’s got an extra gear and that he’ll be badly underpaid on a long deal once he gets there. But Dubas doesn’t want to take that chance on a shorter deal so Willy hasn’t got that option. I’m sure Willy offered to take a bridge, but Dubas won’t go for it.
 
If Nylander wants to max his earnings -- his prerogative, as I said. It will, however, negatively affect the competitiveness of the team I follow. So, yeah, it will affect how I see the guy. Same thing if Dubas signs such a deal -- would not be impressed for the same reason and it would likely change the way I view his GM skills to some extent.

Okay and what if dubas is lowballing him and offering him 6 per for 8 years? If I'm in that position I certainly do accept that. They really don't have to go that low to continue to ice a competitive team for many years.

We don't know anything so there's no sense in guessing. Based on what I know, I understand dubas trying to squeeze as much as he can out of all three young guys, and I certainly understand if willy tries to get as much as he can out of it. That's his right. And who knows, maybe he's asking for something reasonable like 6.5 or 7. Certainly not a crazy ask there.
 
I think if he was asking for 6.5-7 over 6-7 years it would be done. That is what his contract will end up being.

The agent's rep isn't helping Willy's case.

But at the end of the day who cares. He will miss a couple games, sign, and everyone will forget this ever happened.
 
I think Dubas comments about 'record setting contracts' or whatever else it was gives an idea of what Willy's side is/was asking for.

But we don't really know the details.
 
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