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Ex-GM Says Nylander’s New Deal Starts at Pastrnak’s $11.25M
The days of getting William Nylander signed at $9-$10 million are gone says a former NHL GM. David Pastrnak’s deal is the comparable now.
Former NHL general manager, now TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button made an interesting statement this week. During the latest Talking Point, he made the declaration that William Nylander’s new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs (or wherever it is he signs) has gone way up. In fact, he’s suggesting that David Pastrnak’s deal in Boston is now the new comparable. He then said Nylander is worth every penny of that deal.
He asked and answered the question about how high has the Nylander price tag risen since the start of the season. Button said that the comparable has shifted dramatically. At first, the Leafs thought they might be able to use Timo Meier’s deal in New Jersey as a benchmark. Then, it was believed that maybe $10 million would do it. Now, it’s Pastrnak, with Button firmly declaring, “The prices never go down.”
He said the Meier contract is well in the rearview mirror now. “I mean if they [Toronto] could get him at that contract, it would be William Nylander not valuing himself.” He then said that Nylander successfully bet on himself and noted: “So when you start to look at what the price should be for William Nylander, how about starting with David Pastrnak’s $11.25 million annual average value? And whoa David Pastrnak. Yeah. David Pastrnak.”
Nylander Is Proving He’s Worth Pastrnak’s Deal
Button went on to say that $11.25 million is now the number. He noted, “anything less than that, you have to think that maybe it’s a little bit of a discount for it.” He’s not discounting the idea that Nylander would take a little less to stick around, but Toronto isn’t getting him at $10 million now.
Button said, ” I could make the case for William Nylander being worth every penny of 11.25.” He’s probably right. The issue there is that the Leafs can’t keep Nylander at that rate without other roster changes. The question might be less about the dollar figure and more about the sacrifice. For example, are the Maple Leafs willing to lose someone like Mitch Marner to bring back Nylander? That’s what it might come to.
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