If you are Marner and have little playoff success in almost a decade, and know your playoff limits, are you betting on yourself or are you taking guaranteed generational money? I know who I would not bet on.
My guess if Cozens was the same player he was in 2022-2023 he isn't available.
He was the missing piece Toronto needed, a stud defenseman. They didn't even need to trade Nylander for him, could have had him in FA.. One of the bigger "failures" Toronto is going to have if they don't win a cup is not having a true #1 D. Pretty much only way to get them is via draft as no one ever trades them.
13% * 95 = 12.35
All the reports are he wants 13.25+ right now. Again - why are we assuming he’s even worth 10M under a 115M cap at age 32?
If only we could find out how other teams manage to win without having the otherworldly wonder that is Mitch Marner?
Wow! It doesn't say who proposed it or why it fell through, but it sounds like the kind of bad deal Dubas would make.
Insider Jeff Marek Leaks Failed Blockbuster Trade Involving William Nylander
Former '32 Thoughts' co-host Jeff Marek revealed on his show 'The Sheet' that the Maple Leafs nearly made a massive deal involving superstar William Nylander.www.hockeypatrol.com
Former '32 Thoughts' co-host Jeff Marek revealed on his show 'The Sheet' that the Maple Leafs nearly made a massive deal involving superstar
The Toronto Maple Leafs are reaping the benefits of superstar William Nylander's rise to stardom. Coming into this season with back-to-back 40 goal seasons, the Swedish phenom is set to hit that mark again this season, and has been a huge bright spot in a year filled with some very dim moments.
But things could have been much, much different according to NHL Hockey Insider Jeff Marek.
William Nylander Nearly Traded For
Yup, you read that right. William Nylander was nearly traded to the St. Louis Blues for Alex Pietrangelo.
Marek talked about the deal with former NHL GM and analyst Pierre McGuire:
"You know, it wasn't that long ago before you know, it was pretty close that he was going to St. Louis and Alex Pietrangelo was going the other way with the Toronto Maple Leafs."
I'm aware, and I don't think his leaving is the end of the world at all. But I'd try to keep the door open to something, but not committing basically the next decade to him and this core.
This is peak Leafs fan. I don’t know how you look at Pietrangelo’s career since 2018 and Nylander’s and say you’d prefer Nylander.
What pressure can they put on him? The cap is going up like a rocket and our leverage is an 8th year he doesn't care about. He will want the short deal max money wherever that is. Taxes factored in naturally of course.
2018, so it would likely have been a short-term gain but a long-term loss.
We might have won a series in 19 or 20 or 21, but with the team without Nylander it's unlikely we would have won much more. Now Willy is reaching his peak and Petro is declining.
I mean... that's a poor argument at best... It's making an assumption that Pietrangelo gets those Cups here too... and that's weak...
Do you really think we would have won 2 cups the way the rest of the team played?
I would have hated to give up Willie two years after not signing Petro for free. That was the mistake. Comes down to having no cap space to fit him in at the time.
I’m not saying the Leafs would have won. I’m saying that Pietrangelo has been a more important player in the playoffs than Nylander over the last 6 years. Pietrangelo would have been the Leafs best defenseman over that entire period. Nylander has never been the Leafs best forward.
Honestly Byrum should be the LEafs's target from this Buffalo team. He has 1D talent he just has never had a path to play that role. First he was blocked by Makar and now Dahlin/Power. Something like Cowan/Minten, Niemala, and a couple of picks for a 50% retained Byrum would do wonders for the Leafs offense.
