Welcome back to another episode of Back to Excited. Today, we discussed William Nylander for an hour straight.

In particular, we discuss:

  • [1:46] The contract itself, and why it’s good value despite being higher than expected
  • [7:00] The inevitable comparisons between Nylander and Mitch Marner
  • [9:30] The idiocy of Brian Burke’s Nylander take
  • [15:40] Whether this will impact the behaviour of Matthews/Marner in their negotiations
  • [21:32] Why Lewis Gross comes out of this looking good
  • [25:00] The comparison between Nylander and Nicklas Backstrom from ages 20 to 22, as well as the general level of player we think Nylander is
  • [32:10] Which forward comes out of the Leafs lineup?
  • [36:00] How does it impact their cap situation going forward
  • [43:00] The tradeoffs the Leafs will have to make on defence
  • [48:00] Kasperi Kapanen’s RFA situation
  • [55:00] Are the Leafs now true contenders?/

As always, you can catch us on Soundcloud, iTunes, and just about everywhere else. Let us know how you feel about the Nylander deal and its implications for the Leafs going forward in the comments.

Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week.