Exploring potential William Nylander trade to Blackhawks

Nylander doesn’t see what the big rush is to sign now, noting he still has a year left on his deal and the team is doing well.

What adding Nylander would do for the Blackhawks

Nylander is a prolific scorer with 177 goals and 253 assists in 521 NHL games in his seven-year career. He is a sharpshooter with a career 12.3 percent shooting accuracy. He can add to the power play as well, with 51 goals and 83 assists on the man advantage. Opposing teams would need to concentrate on Nylander in addition to Bedard.

If GM Kyle Davidson could be so adept as to add Nylander to the current group, he will be moving his club toward renewed respectability.

Will Toronto Really Trade Nylander?

The issue at hand (and almost always is) is cap space. Now, with Auston Matthews inked for another four years at a whopping $13.25 million, cap space will be limited in Toronto. Matthews’ contract alone accounts for 13.9 percent of the total cap allowance. And, the team will have two restricted free agents and 12 unrestricted to deal with for the 2024-25 season. The team will struggle to keep all the pending contracted players. The Leafs will have an estimated $33.4 million in cap space, but signing everyone with raises could amount to about $44.2 million. The bulk of that could be spent on Nylander. That is why trade rumors have ensued.

Cap issues still need to be resolved for the upcoming season as the Leafs are $2.9 million over the cap limit of $83.5 million. It seems to be a revolving occurrence for the Maple Leafs. Their forward group consumes 70.1 percent of their cap limit. If one were to examine other recent Stanley Cup winners, it would show that the Leafs spend conclusively more on their forward unit. For example, the Vegas Golden Knights spend 57.7 percent, the Tampa Bay Lightning 56.3 and the Colorado Avalanche are at 56.6 percent. The Toronto spending hasn’t resulted in anything close to a championship. It should start to focus more on defense if it intends to win one.

In Conclusion

If the Blackhawks were so lucky as to acquire Nylander, it certainly doesn’t guarantee a championship for them anytime soon. It would steer them in the right direction towards a possible run in, say, three years time. By then, Bedard may be in Connor McDavid territory as far as a dominating player in the NHL. Add in Nylander, who is just 27 years old, and you have the makings of something magical. At this point, it is just categorized along with other NHL rumors. Yet, it could happen, and wouldn’t the fans in Chicago just love it?