5 Reasons New Jersey Devils Could Trade For William Nylander

The New Jersey Devils are set to make some major moves this offseason with a ton of picks and cap space. In the latest Pucks and Pitchforks Pipe Dream, we take a look at acquiring William Nylander from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Here we go again. Sure, this is mostly of our own doing, but it’s been talked about a lot about the issues with William Nylander up in Toronto, and after his hold out this season the media and fans alike have called for him to move on. It’s insane, yes, but the Toronto Maple Leafs fans and media haven’t been known for their sanity. This can mean greatness for the New Jersey Devils.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in dire need of cap space this offseason. With Auston Matthews new contract hitting the books starting next season, the Leafs have a total of $6 million in cap space if the salary cap goes up to $83 million. That doesn’t sound terrible, but they have quite a bit of re-signing to do.

So, why of all the people on their books, would they try and trade away a 22 year old who already has two 60-point seasons? Not really sure, especially since they could have traded him at any point during his contract dispute that went all the way to December. His value was arguably higher at that point, although other GMs likely tried to jump on the Maple Leafs desperation. Either way, they decided it was best to keep Nylander.

So, again, why would now be the time to move him? He has five more years left on his deal, and he’s proven himself an integral part of this franchise prior to this year. He missed not only training camp, but he missed the first two months of the season. He tried to make up for it, but never really figured it out. Maybe he could figure it out on the Devils next season.

There are some really convincing reason why the Maple Leafs would trade Nylander to the Devils. Here are five that could prove this pipe dream true.