Sign Nylander to 2 years @ 5m.

Rationale: There might not be room to sign all Nylander, Matthews and Marner (not to mention Kapanen) for next year with Marleau still around at his 6m. Signing Nylander to a bridge might just enough cap relief to keep everyone here and then he can be renegotiated as early as after next season. By this point, Marleau and Gardiner (year earlier) will be gone and if the cap is around 85m after the 2020-2021 season there might be room to fit everyone. Two things to consider are UFA status and possibility of future trade of Nylander. I will admit I have not checked how a 2 year deal would affect Nylander's UFA status. Would he be a UFA then? Either way, this puts off negotiating a long term deal with Nylander for a year and a half. if at that point, Nylander either hast convinced TOR or he is asking too much, then we can explore trading him.


Thoughts?

A bridge may be whats in the best interest of the player, and I can't believe I am saying this but perhaps even whats best for the team. I have firmly been in the long term contract camp since I believe Nylander is going to be a point a game player and signing him now will mean huge long term savings. A bridge deal though will give him 2 years to show what he can do and those 2 years could very well be his best 2 seasons of his career. I don't like the idea of paying a guy less than he is worth now only to overpay when he's leaving his prime (A players prime is 23-30, anyone who says otherwise just doesn't pay attention).

my understanding is Nylander would be a UFA only with a 5 year or more contract. I'm not sure if he would have arbitration rights after the 2 year contract though

Yep, giving a 2 year bridge and then a 6-8 year long term deal definitely could mean Nylander's second deal is 8-9m instead of 6-7m if there was no bridge, but it may be the only way to keep him long term. And also, just remember that if he gets a 2 year bridge and then you have to pay him 8-9m that probably means he had a VERY good couple of years.

There is no doubt in my mind he'll have 2 very good years. We'll see what happens. One thing for sure though, I don't see many trades out there that make sense for TO. Giving up Nylander for any of the defenceman who are available is a bad idea. They are all over the age of 27, Nylander is 22 so keep the guy who still has his best hockey in front of them not behind them.