Nylander to Nashville

Team: 2023-24 Nashville Predators

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 7, 2023

Published: Jul. 16, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

It seems to me that the perfect fit for William Nylander is Nashville. The Predators need a top-line RW and have the assets to pay for him, plus, they have the cap space right now to absorb his entire cap hit. This acquisition should certainly push Nashville across the finish line into the playoffs. Toronto gets two excellent prospects, a first and a second, which is a very heavy package even for an All-Star. (The assumption here is that Nashville is permitted to negotiate an extension of Nylander's contract and the parties reach an agreement acceptable to both. Of course, whether Toronto would permit such negotiations OR whether they would be successful is highly speculative. But what should be absolutely clear is that no team can afford to pay the cost of obtaining Nylander if all that they are assured of getting is one season of him.)

Maple Leafs fans should like this futures-only trade because it solves Toronto's cap problems, both short term and long term. Moreover, with Treliving going out of his way to sign big-ticket free agents Todd Bertuzzi and Max Domi and John Klingberg (plus adding David Kampf and Ryan Reaves at generous prices), it seems to me that something very much like this might well have been his long-range plan from the start.

With Tyson Barrie and Kevin Lankinen coming off the books next summer plus an anticipated multi-million-dollar cap rise, Nylander's new contract shouldn't be difficult to absorb and there should still be plenty of space to sign (or re-sign) players to fill out the roster. Plus, the loss of two prime prospects is easier to swallow with other youngsters like Egor Afanasyev, Fedor Svechkov and Joakim Kemell in the pipeline and Matthew Wood on the horizon.

Note: I'm completely clueless about what Nashville's defense pairings might be.