Joined: Apr. 2016
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Depends. The author has Nylander on a bridge type deal and Marner on a long term one. I can see that happening since Nylander needs to ink his deal first and it's not like you're signing them in the same off season.
I think, bottom line, the leafs have the cap space to extend Nylander, Marner and Matthews to fair contracts, pay their performance bonuses, and still be able to sign JVR.
The kicker is that, if you give JVR an extension, you're likely pegging Nylander to play C moving forward (because you won't be able to afford a good 3 and 4 C)...and you're also relying on your D prospects filling the void on the back end in 2-yrs time vs trying to acquire a big name D-man.
I can see the Leafs offering him something like $6m x 5yrs and then it's up to JVR to either accept below market value to stay or go seek greener pastures as I'm sure he'll get a $7m offer from someone.