Exploring William Nylander Trade to Chicago Blackhawks

There has been lots of noise lately about when/if William Nylander will re-sign an extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Also, what if he stalls around (and he has in the past) and delays his signing? At that point, the Toronto management must decide if they will trade him. The alternative is to lose out on any possible return if he walks to free agency next summer.

The Chicago Blackhawks May Try to Add Nylander

Let’s face it, with the addition of Connor Bedard and Oliver Moore (#19 overall pick this year), the Hawks have some depth. Sure, they tanked for Bedard and it worked. Now, they need to realize that they can expedite their rebuild with the best player in the draft. And what is an ideal method to do that? By adding a proven scorer in Nylander. Not only can the Blackhawks afford his contract demands, which hover around $10 million, they have the draft picks (seven in the first three rounds) to add to it. And, prospects galore to entice the Leafs if they decide to move him.

Nylander is very calm about all the attention he is getting about his contract situation. In a recent interview with hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, he called Nylander the most relaxed man in hockey.

The most relaxed man in hockey. “Lots of time” to sort out his contract, says there’s nowhere else he wants to be than Toronto. Doesn’t see why everyone is spending so much time discussing it. pic.twitter.com/V7RBYNNwxM

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 23, 2023

Nylander doesn’t see what the big rush is to sign now; he states he still has a year left and the team is doing well.

What Adding William Nylander Would Do For the Blackhawks

He is a prolific scorer with 177 goals and 253 assists in 521 NHL games in his seven-year career. Nylander is a sharpshooter with a career 12.3 percent shooting accuracy. He can add to the power play as well, with 51 goals and 83 assists on the man advantage. No doubt with a scoring threat like Bedard, opposing teams would need to concentrate on Nylander as well. The brilliant GM, Kyle Davidson, also added Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, and Corey Perry for some veteran leadership with the young players.

If Davidson could be so adept as to add Nylander to the current group, he will be moving his club toward renewed respectability aligned with the years of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They long for those days again, and with Nylander around, they could achieve that excitement again.

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Will Toronto Really Trade Nylander?

The issue at hand (and almost always is) is cap space. Now, with Auston Matthews inked for another four years at a whopping $13.25 million, the cap space will be limited. Brad Treliving may regret taking the Leafs GM job once he has to crunch numbers to pay all the players on the squad. Matthews’ contract alone accounts for 13.9 percent of the total cap allowance. And, if one does some math, the team will have two restricted free agents and 12 unrestricted to deal with for the 2024-25 season. Not counting the two players on the LTIR (long-term injured reserve), Jake Muzzin ($5.625M) and Matt Murray ($4.688M), the team will struggle to keep all the pending contracted players. They will have an estimated $33.4 million in cap space, but signing everyone with raises could amount to about $44.2 million. The bulk of that could be spent on Nylander getting in the range of $9.2-$10 million. That is why trade rumors have ensued.

Cap issues still need to be resolved for the current upcoming season as the Leafs are $2.9 million OVER the cap limit of $83.5 million. It seems to be a revolving occurrence for the Maple Leafs. Their forward group consumes 70.1 percent of their cap limit. If one were to examine other recent Cup winners, it would show that the Leafs spend conclusively more on their forward unit. For example, the Vegas Golden Knights spend 57.7 percent, the Tampa Bay Lightning 56.3, and the Colorado Avalanche are at 56.6 percent. In recent memory, the Toronto spending hasn’t resulted in anything close to a Cup. They should start to focus more on defense if they intend to win a championship.

In Conclusion

If the Blackhawks were so lucky as to acquire William Nylander, it certainly doesn’t guarantee a Cup for them anytime soon. It would steer them in the right direction towards a possible run in, say, three years’ time. By then, Bedard may be in Connor McDavid territory as far as a dominating player in the NHL. Add in Nylander who is just 27 years old, and you have the makings of something magical. At this point, it is just categorized along with other NHL rumors. Yet, it could happen, and wouldn’t the fans in Chicago just love it?!