Dallas Stars: Reasons They Should or Shouldn’t Make a Play for Nylander

The Leafs are reportedly officially listening to offers on William Nylander, but should the Dallas Stars be interested in going for it?

William Nylander would provide some offensive power for the Dallas Stars, but there’s more to the situation than simply adding some extra offense.

As a refresher on the Nylander situation, he is currently an RFA without a new contract in place. He and Leafs GM Kyle Dubas couldn’t come to an agreement over a new deal, and now he’s been sitting out all season.

The situation is reaching a breaking point right now, because if he doesn’t sign a deal by December 1, he can’t play this season. If he’s getting traded to a new team, that team will want time to negotiate a contract with him, so the Leafs need to make a call soon.

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With that in mind, let’s take a look at reasons why Jim Nill should be making a call to Dubas, and reasons why someone should hide Nill’s phone.

Should: The Stars Need Offensive Help

This is the most glaring and obvious argument for going after Nylander. The Stars have had depth scoring concerns, and Nill didn’t do anything to address them over the summer. This would be a chance for him to redeem himself and make a huge play. Past offseasons have seen Nill go for Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, and Patrick Sharp, and fans were disappointed this year.

Some of the depth scoring has gotten back on track for the Stars, but they still need help, especially with Alexander Radulov missing. Nylander could certainly help to provide some firepower in that respect. He’s been a 20-goal scorer in his two full seasons in the league, and the Stars only had three players hit that mark last year (Seguin, Benn, and Radulov).

On the flip side, after early concerns, the depth scoring has been improving for the Stars. Right now, the Stars have six players on pace for 20 goals or more this season, with Spezza, Devin Shore, and John Klingberg joining the other three. However, another 20-goal scorer is never a bad thing.

Shouldn’t: The Contract is Too Much

Nylander is a fantastic player with a lot of potential, and as such, he wants a big deal. There are a lot of numbers being thrown about, but they’re all long-term and expensive. That’s the price a team has to pay for a good player, but there simply may not be room for him on the Stars’ cap.

If he’s wanting something like $8M AAV as rumored, the Stars can’t afford that without giving up quite a bit to make it work. If he was willing to take a lower contract or a short-term bridge deal, the deal would already be done in Toronto, so there’s probably not much flexibility there, if any.

The Stars could make the cap work if they were determined, but it’s hard to see a scenario in which that ends up being worth it because of what they’d give up.

Should: The Stars Have Injury Concerns

Obviously Nylander wouldn’t be of any use in addressing the defensive injury concerns, but the Stars have some problems at forward, too. Radulov is still out, Brett Ritchie is sick, and Martin Hanzal may or may not be back as scheduled in December. It makes sense that fans would want something to happen to address that.

Radulov and Ritchie will probably be back this week and they’re practicing with the team, but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t get hurt right after. An extra top forward to help when someone inevitably gets hurt is a good thing for a team to have. Injuries are bound to happen, so it’s nice to be prepared, because it could be the defensive situation all over again.

Shouldn’t: The Cost of the Trade is Too Much

If the Stars decide to go for it, they have to put together a trade package that’s not only worth it for the Leafs, but that also beats the other offers on the table. It also has to have enough salary value to make the cap work with the Nylander extension.

The Leafs probably don’t want a collection of low-level roster players, like Ritchie or Gemel Smith. Draft picks and unproven prospects only go so far, and minor leaguers aren’t really going to offset the salary cost for the Stars. At the end of the day, the Leafs are going to want players who can help them win now, and are preferably on reasonable contracts considering the other extensions they need to hand out soon to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

It’s hard to imagine a Stars package that would satisfy both sides, especially when other teams won’t need the Leafs to take back as much money to make the cap work.

At the end of the day, the idea of Nylander in victory green sounds great, but it just doesn’t seem like the right fit for the Stars right now. That said, Nill does need to go out and do something, but maybe not this deal.