Greg Wyshynski, ESPNJan 8, 2024, 02:48 PM ET
CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander agreed to the largest contract in franchise history on Monday, as the 27-year-old forward signed an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value of $11.5 million against the salary cap. The deal begins next season.
According to Cap Friendly, $69 million of the $92 million will be paid in bonus money, with a full no-movement clause throughout the contract.
It’s a deal that will have big ramifications for the Leafs and the rest of the NHL.
Does this deal make sense?
Within the context of other recent deals it absolutely does, both within the Leafs organization and the NHL.
Auston Matthews’ new four-year deal, which kicks in next season along with Nylander’s, carries a $13.25 million annual cap hit, accounting for 15.87% of Leafs’ cap, per Cap Friendly. Mitch Marner will be in the final year of his six-year contract extension next season, carrying a $10.903 million AAV.
Nylander was always going to slot in between those two on this deal — there was never a chance he’d make less than Marner on this extension. Just how much higher than Marner was always the question.
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Back in November, the Evolving Hockey contract projection model had Nylander at $9.64 million AAV on a deal that accounted for 11% of an $87.5 million salary cap. They did caution that “extensions notoriously stray from market for one reason or another,” and by January Nylander had provided a reason of his own: 54 points in 37 games, including 21 goals. That made him the fourth highest scorer in the NHL on a points-per-game basis.
He’s trended up offensively over the last two seasons, essentially tying Marner in points per game from 2022-23 through 2023-24.
Nylander is a star now and will be paid accordingly.
Nylander isn’t the first player to change the math for his contract with a career year. David Pastrnak essentially did the same thing…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/39266439/nhl-william-nylander-contract-maple-leafs-free-agent-deal
Author : Greg Wyshynski
Publish date : 2024-01-08 19:51:33
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