The William Nylander contract dispute saga soon will have a resolution, as the center either can sign a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs or the team can trade him before the Dec. 1 deadline. If he doesn’t have an NHL contract by 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 1 then he will be unable to play in the NHL this season.
The Leafs get set to take on the division rival Boston Bruins on Monday night and will do so without Nylander and Auston Matthews, who’s out with a shoulder injury. One Bruins star understands Nylander’s holdout after he went through something similar over the offseason.
Contract negotiations between David Pastrnak and the Bruins were at a standstill over the summer, but the two sides eventually came to terms on a six-year deal in September.
Pastrnak and Nylander are good friends off the ice, and have been since they were teenagers. And even though the two won’t face each other Monday at Scotiabank Arena, Pastrnak still has tremendous respect for the center and understands why he is holding out.
“You got to give him some respect, right?” Pastrnak said of Nylander missing this much of the season, via TSN. “He’s patient and whatever it is, at the end of the day you got to be patient and just get what you think you deserve. It’s just for your whole life.
Pastrnak doesn’t have any regrets about his contract or the dollar value attached to it, noting he makes more than he likely would have over in his native Czech Republic.
His comments had Leafs fans wishing Nylander felt the same way.
Nylander certainly would add a spark to the Toronto offense after finishing the 2017-18 season with 20 goals and 41 assists. And while the Maple Leafs are third in the Atlantic Division heading into Monday’s tilt, adding him and Matthews back into the lineup could give Toronto a lethal offensive attack.
Who knows, maybe Pastrnak can convince his friend to sign with the Leafs and get back on the ice by the Dec. 1 deadline.
