The Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent William Nylander have come to an agreement on a six-year deal as per TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger

4:57pm - HE SIGNED - TSN Hockey Insider 

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4:50pm - TEN MINUTES REMAIN

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4:45pm - Still nothing. TSN Director of Scouting Criag Button looks at why it's come this far.

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4:30pm - With half an hour to go, reality is setting in for Leafs fans: There might not be any William Nylander this season. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger weighs in.

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4:20pm - Nylander or no Nylander, life goes on for the Leafs and they've arrived at the rink in St. Paul.

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4:00pm - ONE HOUR REMAINS

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3:15pm - An update! TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs have an offer in with Nylander's camp and are waiting for his response with about 100 minutes until the deadline.

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2:49pm - If you're wondering why there hasn't been an update in nearly two hours, it's because...well, there isn't one.

Both sides have gone completely quiet with a little over two hours to go.

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1:00pm - The entire Leafs management group is in Minnesota with the team as the deadline approaches. Mark Masters has the latest.

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12:40pm - Count Patrick Marleau among the Toronto Maple Leafs anxious to get Nylander back on the ice for his team.

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12:00pm - Ahead of their contest with the Wild on Saturday night at the Xcel Center, Leafs coach Mike Babcock insists that the Nylander situation hasn't been a distraction for his team.

"Zero," Babcock said.

Babcock also reiterated what he's said for most of the fall and summer.

"I like the player," Babcock said. "I like the player. The team needs him. We want him back. That's it."

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11:15am - Even Bruce Boudreau, head coach of the Leafs' opponents on Saturday night, the Minnesota Wild, has an opinion on the Nylander situation.

"I'm not looking forward to a resolution," Boudreau said. "I'm just glad it's not resoluted [sic] right now, if that's even a word."

It's not, Bruce. The word you're looking for is "resolved."

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10:45am - Another thing to be mindful of in all of this is contract length. While the six-year deal and Pastrnak could be a benchmark, it's not the only option.

A two or three-year bridge deal remains on the table as McKenzie notes and it might actually be preferable for the player. 

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are both finishing their rookie deals and will be in line for hefty raises in the very near future. While Matthews isn't necessarily a comparable, Marner is for Nylander. If Nylander were to sign a six-year deal at (for argument's sake) $7 million per and Marner signs something larger only a few months down the road, there would be more than hurt pride for Nylander.

Nylander might feel that he missed the boat entirely when it came to maximizing his value. In taking a shorter-term deal, his fears of that would be assuaged, as would the idea that he could be traded down the road if he were to take what McKenzie calls a "fit in" deal.

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10:30am - So about the potential for a trade? It's highly unlikely at this point, says TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie.

Now, that doesn't rule out the possibility entirely, but it appears that it will be Nylander playing with the Leafs this year or not at all.

McKenzie expects the Leafs to table their final (well, yeah) and best offer today.

So what might that look like?

Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak's deal appears to be the benchmark. Pastrnak, who is a close friend of Nylander's, signed a six-year deal with an average annual value of $6.67 million last year. A deal for Nylander would be slightly north of this figure. McKenzie doesn't believe it will go as high as $7 million AAV, but that remains to be seen.

And McKenzie notes a crucial point when it comes to the Pastrnak benchmark:

The Pastrnak deal bought two years of his unrestricted free agency. A six-year deal for Nylander would only buy out one.