Have you ever tried out for a school team? Do you remember that moment where you would run to the gym and look at the list of students who made the final cut? Track down each name and try to find yours and unfortunately, it wouldn’t be there? That’s how a portion of Leafs nation reacted after seeing the training camp roster for the 2018-19 roster, without William Nylander on it.

No contract, no training camp.

Then good ol’ TSN decided to add some fuel to the blue and white fire via Darren Dreger. The hockey insider went on to Leafs Lunch yesterday afternoon and dropped a tidbit of information.

It’s nice to see that the ‘trusted hockey men’ of the NHL believe so. Whether that’s a reality or not is a different story. The number is what’s interesting. For months, Nikolaj Ehlers has been the main comparable for Nylander. They were drafted back-to-back and have put up similar point totals over the last two seasons.

Ehlers signed his extension at the beginning of last season which carries a $6 million cap-hit over seven (7) years.

Additionally, the David Pastrnak contract ($6.66 million per year) has been dubbed the virtual cap of what Nylander can get. And then we get to the $8 million supposed ask from Nylander’s camp.

Opinions are more than welcome, but I have a hard time believing that is the case.  And if so, Nylander gets a bridge contract to bet on himself and proves he’s worth that price and gets his money. For now, I’m going to remain extremely skeptical and be happy with the fact that no one knows what the true ask is besides Leafs management, Nylander, and his agent.

So, for those freaking out at the number, don’t. And for those pondering whether Nylander sits out of camp, don’t either. He may miss media day, AKA the day where the players take their fancy pictures and film those dramatic video clips, but on-ice sessions don’t begin until Friday.

It’s been an overused time, but there’s time. Willy Ny the Wrist Shot Guy is coming soon.

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