Why The Leafs Should Seriously Consider Trading Nylander

While the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander squabble over a new contract, it's becoming clear there are plenty of reasons to consider trading a player that was at one time considered a key piece of the team's future.

The team faces two problems. First, Nylander is an unsigned restricted free agent, who hasn’t yet come to terms on a contract extension with the team. With every day he sits out, he's falling further and further behind. Second, if Nylander does sign, or the Leafs give him a penny more than he's worth, as early as next year, the Leafs might face a serious salary cap issue.

Thanks to the delay, both the media and anxious Maple Leaf fans have started to ask: “Should the Maple Leafs trade William Nylander?”

Leafs Don't Need Nylander

Nylander is talented but the Leafs might not "need" him. Few teams could allow a player who produces like Nylander has to sit, but the Leafs are so stacked offensively, the organization could let him stew. Namely, adding John Tavares in an area where the Maple Leafs were already strong only made Nylander expendable.

At some point, it’s Nylander and not the Leafs who have to budge in this negotiation. Should the young forward want to play and join a group that is favored to do well, he’s got to lower his demands. As this holdout lingers, if Nylander doesn't realize he's not going to win this stalemate, he might be on the move, he should be on the move and the GM is wise enough to make future plans that don't include him.

Trading Nylander Is About Leaf's Long-Term Future

It is up to Maple Leafs' GM Kyle Dubas to mandate team-building and consider the long-term salary cap implications for the organization. In any other situation, overpaying Nylander by $500K to $1 million per season would be acceptable. Not this summer. Nylander is seeking a multi-year deal (rumored by some to be as high as $8 million per year), and Dubas knows if he caves to the pressure, he has Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, among others, who become free agents next summer and will devastate his salary cap with their respective asks.

The team cannot afford to overpay the first big free agent to come up for an extension and long-term if Nylander doesn't come in at a number that works for the franchise, the team is better to move him for help in another area. This is a time that Dubas has to be especially careful as to the precedent he sets.

The Time Is Now

There is something to be said for the small window that exists for teams to win a Stanley Cup. According to the opinion of many insiders and oddsmakers, Toronto is in that window. That means two things: the team can't let Nylander miss the season without getting something in return and if the Leafs don't improve their blueline, they may squander an opportunity while it exists.

The Maple Leafs might be stacked on offense and employ the most dangerous group of centers and forwards in the NHL, but their defense is still suspect at best. Nylander certainly offers a tradeable asset that could help improve the blue line in a way that makes the Leafs a more well-rounded team. At the very least, Dubas should be exploring this.

The Leafs may lose any one-for-one trade if they choose to move Nylander but in the end, it might be what's best for the franchise. They get a chance to move a player who may not understand he's not going to win this financial standoff, the team can improve their blueline (an area of need) and the GM can send a swift message that if you're a part of this group, you'd better be thinking team and not self or you won't stick around.

NEXT: ALEX NYLANDER DISCUSSES BROTHER WILLIAM'S STALLED CONTRACT WITH MAPLE LEAFS