William Nylander confirms that he's not in any rush to sign an extension with the Leafs this summer

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Mike Armenti
August 23, 2023 (10:29)

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With training camp approaching the Toronto Maple Leafs still do not have extensions in place for two of their star forwards, Auston Matthews and William Nylander. These two sets of negotiations have been a hot topic in the NHL all summer long, with many intrigued eyes focused in and watching the situation to see if either player may become available. There have been some reports suggesting that the Matthews deal may already be done in principle, but nothing has been made official on paper just yet.

All indications, to this point, have been that Matthews will eventually sign his deal, but that his announcement may not come until after Nylander has signed his extension to avoid any last minute pivots by the Nylander camp after the Swedish winger put up a career best 87 points last season, to Matthews' 85 points.

Nylander, on the other hand, has been the subject of much criticism this summer and some have even called for him to be traded if not signed by training camp. Both players have 1 year left on their current deals.

While the pressure from the fanbase has been high to get both players locked into new deals before the new season gets under way, neither the Leafs organization nor either player seems to be overly concerned. Both Matthews and Nylander had stated earlier this summer that they both want to remain in Toronto and GM Brad Treliving has openly told the media on multiple occasions that it is his intent to have both players back next season and extended for the foreseeable future.

We have not heard much from Matthews since locker cleanout day, but Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek had the opportunity to sit down with Nylander this week. While the full interview has not yet been released, Nylander sent a very clear message to the fans through Marek and Friedman that he doesn't want to play anywhere other than in Toronto and there's "lots of time" to get a deal done.

Nylander has reportedly submitted an ask of $10M+ per season to the Leafs to open negotiations - a number that he has reportedly stood firm at. Meanwhile, the Leafs are believed to have offered somewhere in the $8M-$9M range. Both sides appear to favour an 8-year term, but the fact that they remain so far apart is not ideal with training camp and the preseason looming.