Cole Caufield's New Contract is Good for the Maple Leafs

Cole Caufield is Montreal's star. He's a talented player who can single-handedly shift the balance of a game.

Montreal just signed him for eight more seasons, with an average annual value of $7.85 million.

It's bad news for the Leafs in the sense that they'll play against him a lot, but it's also a good thing for their contractual situation.

Caufield and Nylander have a similar impact on their teams.

When Nylander signed his current contract, he had just completed a season with 0.74 points per game. Caufield's is 0.78.

This year, Nylander broke the point-per-game barrier, but it took him five years to reach the 30-goal plateau. Caufield would have surpassed that mark if he had stayed healthy.

However, Caufield was an RFA (restricted free agent), while Nylander is a UFA (unrestricted free agent). Nylander can choose to test the market and see who offers the most money.

If Nylander wanted to ask for around $10-10.5 million from the Leafs, they might be able to negotiate it to something closer to $9 million now that Caufield has signed a $7.85 million deal.

Caufield is five years younger than Nylander, more productive, and has more prime time left.

Do you think William Nylander will remain in Toronto?

As reported on Maple Leafs Daily -
Cole Caufield's new 8-year deal in Montreal could be a very good thing for the Leafs