William Nylander Ends Holdout, Agrees To Six-Year Deal With Maple Leafs

The William Nylander saga officially came to a close on Saturday after the 22-year-old winger signed a contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger.

Bob McKenzie reported that the deal will be worth $6.9 million a year, totaling $41.4 million. It also includes a signing bonus just under $25 million, according to Pierre LeBrun. The agreement from both sides came just minutes before the 5 p.m. ET restricted free agency deadline. Had the deadline been missed, Nylander would have been forced to sit out the remainder of the season before awaiting a new contract, but the young Swede prevented the standoff from reaching Le’Veon Bell status. The winger had spent a majority of this contractual stalemate in his home country.

With a record of 18-8-0, Toronto has been doing pretty well to start the season with the newly-acquired John Tavares, and temporary Nylander-replacement Kasperi Kapanen, filling in their respective roles nicely. However, Nylander—who’s scored 61 points in his last two seasons—will undoubtedly bring additional offensive firepower to help turn the Maple Leafs into an even scarier opponent for teams around the league.