Insider Strikes Fear Into Leafs Nation Linking William Nylander To Original Six Team As A Strong Possibility

The star winger is currently rocking a 15 game point streak to start the season and he has 22 points total, leading the team. Of any core player in Toronto though, his future is the least certain, and at least one insider thinks his time with the Leafs may be done after this season.

ESPN analyst John Buccigross believes the Blackhawks who armed with 12.5M in cap space should be heavily involved in pursuing Toronto's William Nylander this offseason.

The move could make a lot of sense for the Hawks. Nylander is on an expiring deal and the way he's playing could mean he's priced himself out of Toronto. The Leafs already have 34 million dollars, nearly half the cap, locked up to three forwards in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares for next season. Can the team really afford another 10 million dollar plus player?

Last season the Golden Knights became the first team in the cap era to win a cup with a player making 10million dollars. That would be Jack Eichel, who's cap hit is exactly 10 million. No other team has been able to win with such a contract on their team, let alone two, or in the Leafs case, four. It would seem then that moving on from Nylander may be a smart move strictly from a roster balancing perspective. After all, the Leafs have found postseason success to be extremely difficult to come by.

While the Blackhawks are very unlikely to make any playoff noise this season, they've already taken major strides this year thanks primarily to the addition of Connor Bedard, who already looks like one of the best players in the league.

If they were to add Nylander this offseason, suddenly the team could look extremely dangerous with a top line of Nylander, Bedard, and someone else. The 3rd player barely even matters. Nylander and Bedard alone would tear up the league.

Source: NHL Insider Leaks a Major Plan For The Blackhawks to Sign William Nylander