Maple Leafs young star is face of NHL’s contract revolution

A strange wrinkle has been added, courtesy of William Nylander.

As the Maple Leafs terrific young forward held out until hours before the deadline and then finally signed a contract extension on the afternoon of Dec. 1, it became clear that the script had flipped between teams and players when it comes to restricted free agency. The 22-year-old did not want a one- or two-year bridge deal. After just two full seasons in the league, he wanted to get paid — big-time and long-term.

Nylander did not have arbitration rights, which actually turned out in his benefit. If he had more service time, he would have had that right to file for arbitration, and if the case actually reached the arbitrator, the settlement coming in August would have been for a one-year deal. Instead, after holding out, he was rewarded with a six-year deal worth $41.4 million, carrying what amounts to an annual salary-cap hit of $6.9 million.

If he had not signed by Dec. 1, he would have had to sit out the whole season, which forced the hand of both his agent and Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas. It resulted in a deal that seems equitable for both sides.

Under normal circumstances with a RFA without arbitration rights — and with normal talent — the team either tries to negotiate a bridge deal, or just gives a qualifying offer. The latter would mean that if the player rejects it, the team retains the rights to that player — which is what Nylander did — unless he signs an offer sheet with another team. That almost never happens because the team who gives the offer sheet would then have to send a slew of draft picks back in return if the original club allows the player to leave.

(Quick aside: Colleague Larry Brooks recently pointed out a salary-cap loophole. What if a team signed a player to a big one-year deal — say, $15 million — and then come Jan. 1, they have an agreement in place for a five-year, $25 million extension. If you have the cap room in Year 1, then the next five years carry a cap-hit of $5 million while the player is actually averaging $6.67 million per in salary over the six-year span. Would the league OK that, or would it be circumvention?)

Because this is a league that has become so predicated on youth and talent, draft picks are too valuable to risk. Under that same premise, that is why young RFAs are treated like gold and handed massive, long-term contracts that used to be unheard of. It used to be that arbitration rights were good because a player knew they would get signed to what could be considered at least a reasonable deal. Now, that stop-gap is a benefit to the team.

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Just look at some of the contracts handed out to RFAs in the past few years. Of course Connor McDavid is a generational talent, but just a few years ago the Oilers would have tried to kept his salary under control — at least, in term. Instead, they handed him a historic eight-year, $100 million deal (at $12 million per, turns out to be a bit of a bargain). The Lightning didn’t even let Nikita Kucherov sniff RFA status, signing him this July, with one year left on his bridge deal, to an eight-year, $76 million deal ($9.5 million per). Johnny Gaudreau held out in the summer of 2016 coming off his entry-level deal and the Flames rewarded him with a six-year, $40.5 million deal ($6.75 million per).

Heck, even the Rangers didn’t give defenseman Brady Skjei a bridge deal, instead signing him to a six-year, $31.5 million deal ($5.25 million per). Ehh, how’s that working out?

If Nylander got $6.9 million per, what is Dubas going to have to pay Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as they come up on RFA this summer? What is Colorado GM Joe Sakic (not known for being the most patient negotiator) going to have to give Mikko Rantanen, who just happens to be leading the league with 52 points through 31 games?

There are still big-ticket unrestricted free-agent signings, but the idea that this has become a young person’s league is no longer just an idea. It’s translating to the business, and the system is going to have to adjust.

Ludicrous Lightning

Yeah, this is just what the Lightning needed — getting their No. 1 goalie back and then watching as Andrei Vasilevskiy makes saves like this.

Having suffered a broken left foot back on Nov. 10, the 24-year-old Russian made his return on Thursday night and just casually made 48 saves in a 4-1 win over the terrifically talented Leafs. It was a battle of the league’s top two teams, but Vasilevskiy’s return might have just separated the Lightning from the rest of the pack.

Appreciating Alex

Still, somehow, it seems like Alex Ovechkin’s greatness is overlooked. On Tuesday, Ovechkin notched his 21st career hat trick, passing Pavel Bure for the most all-time by Russian-born players. He now has 632 career goals, passing Marcel Dionne for the second-most goals at age 33 or younger (behind Wayne Gretzky’s 804). He’s also third in goals within a player’s first 14 seasons (Mario Lemieux’s 654 might get passed, but Gretzky’s 765 will not).

That’s the kind of company Ovechkin is keeping. It’s rarified air up there.

Stay tuned . . . (to the Sabres)

This segment of The Backcheck is now officially dedicated to New York’s other team, who are this year’s Great Story. After showing they can hang with the big boys with an overtime loss to the Leafs last week, the Sabres took a 6-2 hammering from the visiting Flyers this Saturday. They recovered with wins over the Kings and Coyotes, and now have a stern weekend test, a road back-to-back in Washington on Saturday then Boston on Sunday.

Buffalo is currently 19-9-4, in third place in the Atlantic Division.

Parting shot

Andreas Martinsen now has nine career NHL goals in 148 games. He had an interesting way of saying how he got his first of this season to go in.