Former NHLer sends very clear message to William Nylander following the Matthews extension

Now that Auston Matthews has signed and will be a Leaf for at least the next five years, all the attention turns to William Nylander once again. Nylander revealed on Wednesday that there haven't been many talks recently between he and the Leafs on his extension but that he would love to get something done. For them to get something done though, it would require one or both sides to make some concessions with the biggest being Nylander coming down from his reported $10M+ per season ask.

Yesterday on TSN's OverDrive, while the guys were discussing Matthews' extension, Jamie McLennan commented on how this affects Nylander's new deal and he didn't mince words.


McLennan has a very valid point in terms of Nylander and his extension, particularly if you look at the fact that another number one center in Sebastian Aho just signed for $9.75M per season over 8 years. Nylander is not a center, not a top-5 or top-10 player in the league and is not, at this point, a 100-point player. Can he be a 100-point player? Quite possibly, but he's still not a 200 foot player. He needs to be more realistic in what his value is. It's certainly not anywhere close to that of Auston Matthews.