Nylander on record $92M deal: Toronto is home
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
TORONTO — William Nylander never has been much for words.
And it didn’t take many for the Maple Leafs‘ winger to explain why he agreed to an eight-year, $92 million contract on Monday that will have him skipping free agency this summer to stick in Toronto for the bulk of his career.
“This has been home for me,” said Nylander, in typical simplistic fashion. “This is the longest I’ve ever spent in one place in my entire life. It’s funny, the other day I was talking to a friend, and I said, ‘and then we go home’ in referring to Toronto. Without even thinking about it, this was home.”
The Calgary-born, Sweden-raised Nylander can now start seriously planting some roots. The fresh contract extension kicks in next season to carry him through 2032 and comes replete with a full no-movement clause. It’s also the richest total value deal Toronto has ever offered a player, underscoring the treasured position Nylander has come to hold within the organization.
It was the Leafs who drafted Nylander eighth overall in 2014 and they’ve since shepherded the robustly talented forward through years of inconsistency to eventually have him develop into one of the NHL’s premier wingers.
That evolution earned Nylander a paycheck on par with the Leafs’ other vaunted core players — namely Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner — and those four skaters will now eat up over $40 million of Toronto’s cap space next year. It’s a major endowment from Leafs’ brass, and one Nylander claims he and his teammates appreciate.
“I think it’s huge as a player to feel that [management is] really investing in the core and betting on us,” he said. “And I think that we feel the same way. That’s ultimately why I wanted to stay here for eight years was I wanted to give it a run to try to win the [Stanley] Cup. Before I signed here [I said] how important that was to me. I know what our group is capable of. We have some stretches throughout the season that you guys might not think it, but I know what we’re able to do. I know myself and all the other guys in the core. We’ve all grown.”
No one more than Nylander himself. The 27-year-old has produced 198 goals and 484 points through 558 NHL games to date, and this season has been Nylander’s greatest opening act. He’s already produced a franchise-record 17-game point streak to start the year (complete with 12 goals and 27 points) and is currently fifth overall in NHL scoring with 21 goals and 54 points in 37 games.
It took years for Nylander to reach that elite pinnacle in his play. Leafs’ coach Sheldon Keefe knows the process he went through to get there better than anyone. He’s been with Nylander from the beginning, coaching him as a 19-year-old with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies and at the NHL level since 2019. All along Keefe’s been pulling and pushing to get the best out of Nylander on a nightly basis. It was last year when Keefe started seeing the fruits of their combined efforts in helping Nylander ascend to his loftiest heights yet.
“He’s spoken a lot about being a top player in the league and being relied upon in all situations for our team and that’s been his ambition,” said Keefe. “He has done the work and I think he’s grown a tremendous amount. He’s on another level this season and to me the way that he takes care of his body on and off the ice and the internal motivation that he has and the drive to help our team win, we’re pretty excited to coach this version of Willie that he’s evolved into over the years.”
Whether this early success ultimately drove up the asking price for Nylander’s services long-term was a relatively moot point for Leafs’ general manager Brad Treliving when negotiating the new deal. Despite speculation that Nylander might have been less expensive to extend over the summer, Treliving said the bottom line was both sides had a goal in mind and were able to find common ground.
“When you have the starting point of a player that wants to be here, and a team that wants to keep him, usually you can get it done,” said Treliving. “Listen, it’s a big contract. It’s a lot of money. And so you go through that process, but I don’t if there was ever an ‘aha moment.’ You arm wrestle. You go through it. But I don’t think there was ever a time where we felt we weren’t going to get to the finish line.”
This is the second massive contract Treliving has finalized since replacing Kyle Dubas last spring as Toronto’s GM. He previously inked Matthews to a four-year, $53 million extension in August to keep him from reaching free agency in 2024, and now Treliving has Nylander locked in, too. Doling out big paydays to a few players — especially when Toronto hasn’t had the playoff success in recent years to back up that strategy — has naturally called into question how the Leafs will manage their limited cap space scenario from here.
Treliving’s stance seemed to be taking it one day — or one contract — at a time.
“Certainly, there’s always challenges, right?” he said. “And I think all we can do is tackle these things when they come up. I got here [as GM] and Auston was the priority. Auston and Willie were both going into their final years. We were able to get those done. And now you see what’s next on the list, right? You’re going to have a cap that increases, but we’re also not blind to the fact that there’s other areas of our team as we move forward that you have to improve. And we’ll continue to do that. But for right now, we got a really good player signed [today].”
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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