Tense times at deadline — for some
Unflappable Nylander ‘was probably sleeping,’ Leaf teammates joke
ST. PAUL, MINN.— When Morgan Rielly heard that teammate William Nylander broke a contract impasse with a phone call to Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas just a half-hour before the signing deadline, and that the final documents were delivered with only minutes to go, he laughed.
“That’s classic Willie,” Rielly said. “We were joking that he was probably sleeping or something. Love him. He’s calm, collected.”
The first busload of Leafs arrived at the Xcel Energy Center for their Saturday night game in Minnesota, it turned out, just when Nylander called Dubas to work out a deal with the clock ticking toward the 5 p.m. Eastern deadline.
Nylander’s teammates were just as on edge as any Leaf fan, and Dubas himself.
“We got their signed copy of the contract back at 3:52 Central time (4:52 p.m. Eastern),” Dubas said. “It was agreed to, but there were some slight variations that needed to be made and sent, emailed over there, sent back in the right order and send it to the league.
“The worst thing (that could have happened was) a page missing and the contract rejected at this point. I’ve got a lot of faith in (assistant GM) Brandon Pridham and he certainly has shown that faith is well placed. I thought we would be in good hands, even though there was undue pressure placed on him by me.”
Dubas told his staff: six years with a salary-cap hit of $6.97 million (all dollars U.S.) in years two through six, when the cap crunch could hurt.
“I talked to William throughout,” Dubas said. “Obviously we met throughout, talked on the phone, texted, stayed in touch. I know people made it seem contentious, and at points maybe it was, but once he gets back here and gets rolling, it’ll all be gone. We’re thrilled to have him back.”
Rielly said he was following the Leafs’ PR director, Steve Keogh, looking for information. “We had our media guys checking in and we were annoying probably, asking for updates,” Rielly said.
“I was with Steve and he was on his computer, and I looked at the words he was typing (for the press release announcing the deal). So I sprinted to the room to tell them I know what happened — and I didn’t tell anybody.”
That was left for Leafs coach Mike Babcock, said Mitch Marner.
“Babs popped out of the office and said, ‘We signed him,’ ” Marner said. “And then, of course, everyone nowadays just goes right to our phone. So about 20 of us walk over, grab our phones. Next thing you know, you see the signing.”
Teammates were texting Nylander, as well as friends and family. “I texted him right away, said ‘Congrats,’ ” Marner said.
It was night-time in Sweden when it was all over.
“It was nice to just lay down and get some sleep for once when everything was over,” Nylander told Sportbladet on Sunday at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm). “It’s been a sick process, but now I’m just happy to go back there and get to play.”
He’s expected back at practice on Monday, but when he plays is another question. The best guess is that he’ll be ready for Saturday’s contest in Boston.
Rielly knows better than most about what Nylander was going through. The defenceman signed a six-year, $30-million extension at the end of the 2015-16 season after elongated talks with then-GM Lou Lamoriello.
“It’s good peace of mind to know you don’t have to do it again for another couple of years,” Rielly said of the longterm deal. “It’s not enjoyable. That’s the biggest misunderstanding. It’s not at all comfortable.
“It was happening over the course of the year ... and I didn’t enjoy it. For him, I’m sure he wasn’t enjoying it. He just wants to play. I’m sure he’s going to be happy to come home, be excited, and hopefully he can put the puck in the net.” Centre Auston Matthews, who missed a month with a shoulder injury, said it would take Nylander a bit of time to get into real game shape.
“It’s the same thing coming back from injury,” Matthews said. “You need a couple of games to get going. I’m sure he’s excited to get going.”
Marner was a bit more optimistic.
“That guy’s a freak, the stuff he does on the ice. I’m sure he’s been keeping up (fitness-wise) in Sweden,” Marner said.
“He’s a big part of this team. Having him back is going to add more fire to this team and make us even deeper.”