TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie joined host Gino Reda to discuss the ongoing situation with William Nylander and what the NHL and NHLPA are saying about Tom Wilson's suspension reduction.
The William Nylander situation
The Leafs are still trying to get William Nylander’s name on a contract, but there is also interest around the league.
Dreger: The big issue is who’s going to meet the ask, assuming again the Toronto Maple Leafs get to the point they are willing to part with William Nylander and the ask is going to be significant. There is a ton of interest as Bob has illustrated but the ask is going to likely include two pieces off the roster. My sources indicate it could be a top four defenceman along with a top-nine forward because the Toronto Maple Leafs believe to contend for the Stanley Cup, they’d have to add some key pieces and that forward would be very crucial along with a defenceman so it’s not an easy ask.
McKenzie: Here’s where it gets really difficult for teams acquiring William Nylander is the financial aspect of it and trying to sign him. Because he's not signing at the beginning of the season, and he signed later, there's a divergent way of how the cap is calculated. Courtesy of our friends at Capfriendly.com, if the Leafs were to do a six-year deal at $7 million cap hit today Nov.13, his year one hit would be $8.7 million, years two through six. $6.7 million. You see can on Nov. 30, the day before the deadline, $9.6 million on a $7 million AAV and the $6.6 million. The Leafs love that scenario, that works for them. Let’s say they do a three-year bridge deal. Well there you go. Today, the first year would be $5.9 million on a $5 million cap hit, but then it gets lesser after that. Same thing, same principle at work on Nov.30. This is a scenario that works to the Leafs’ advantage in a big, big way. But almost all of the other teams that are interested in William Nylander, those big cap hit numbers in year one, that takes a lot of teams out of the trade talk right away. They can’t afford an accelerated cap hit in year one, even if it drops below the AAV in years two through six or years two and three.
Tom Wilson's suspension reduced from 20 games to 14
The independent arbitrator reduced Tom Wilson’s suspension from 20 games to 14, with him having already served 16. What are the two sides saying about this?