Will the Rangers step up their efforts to acquire William Nylander?

Nov 18, 2018

Nylander (TSN)

The clock is ticking on the Leafs situation with Nylander. Are they each playing a game of chicken to see who will budge first? No matter what, many teams are circling the waters and will close in when the time comes.

Crunch time for the Leafs and Nylander

The deadline for the Leafs to sign William Nylander or lose him for the year is December 1st. That is just 12 more days (11 if you exclude Thanksgiving), so the pressure is on both parties to come up with something.

Before I get to the rumors, let’s look at the situation logically. Toronto is in a pickle, that is the price of having so much high level young talent coming off their entry level contracts. The Leafs compounded that by giving huge contracts to veterans like Patrick Marleau and John Tavares in a bid to win the Stanley Cup now. Kyle Dubas has every GM’s desired problem, but it is a problem nonetheless. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and 6 more RFA’s all up next year so this is a crucial decision for Toronto.

If Nylander gets traded, don’t expect it to be this week. The Leafs will try to sign him almost up to the 11th hour and probably won’t pull the trigger on a trade until a day or two before the deadline. Reports are out there that Dubas is willing to let him miss the year if no deal can be reached but that seems the least likely option. The chances of Nylander being moved stands at about 40% and will climb a little with each passing day.

Rangers Ready?

Now to the Rangers involvement. Let’s be clear that although there is confirmed interest, they are not the favorites. Matter of fact, the only way they could acquire Nylander would be moving two major pieces out of this lineup. Larry Brooks’ proposed Brady Skjei and Chris Kreider in order to get it done. ::wink wink::

The hottest buzz on a Nylander trade continues to come out of Carolina. Canes’ GM, Don Waddell said he is interested and believes many other teams have spoken to Leafs’ GM, Kyle Dubas as well. Toronto is looking to bolster their defense and Carolina seems to be a perfect trade partner. You have to imagine talented defenseman, Justin Faulk would be sent back the other way.

Can the Rangers pull this off? Would Toronto be interested in such a package? The answers are yes, but it seems unlikely unless the Rangers take back some of Toronto’s unwanted salary back and/or eat some of Chris Kreider’s remaining money due.

By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at... More about Anthony Scultore

Mentioned in this article:

More About: