Pretty confident they will do neither of those things but 🤷🏻

This is the plan 11/7 to start the year and see what works

fair enough, but i feel like they will be forced to do so. Can only play 11 and 7 for so long. its impractical to bank on surviving on a 20 man roster

Trading Nylander? How you're doing to save cap...which I understand , but undoubtedly but any team on his trade list halve no cap either.

I think i understand your question?

because in a trade, the other team can pay another team to save cap (see EK trade). a team would pay a third party team to retain for this year and then deal with the nylander extension in the offseason.
it saves the leafs cap taking 7 mil of the team and then maybe taking a 4 million dollar player back plus picks and prospects.

Hmm I like it! Well done...

If I were BT I would take that idea and just Taxi Robertson back and forth between the Leafs and Marlies as needed...and slide Bailey up

Here's the part I don't get. Why ae so many worried about Nylander's extension. There are over 100 upcoming NHL UFAs next summer. The Leafs have eight. ..Nylander, Bertuzzi, Domi, Samsonov, , Lafferty Klingberg and Giordano and Brodie. There certainly isn't any urgency for the Leafs sign or trade Nylander. Just like there probably isn't any urgency for another time to acquire Nylander.
Now, if the Leafs could trade Nylander for a competent NHL Dman, and get some cap relief to fill the roster with 22 players, yeah I see that trade. But it's getting beyond silliness to expect to trade Nylander thinking an extension is in place which would sweeten the return for Nylander
Just going be this post.....Leafs and so many other teams have players with M NTCs or NTCs. Trading them to team with cap is nearly impossible.