Doubt Anaheim wants to get this much older in one of their core players not to mention adding picks to do it.

Leafs would be adding in that swap, not Anaheim

Zegras is worth so much more than Nylander, even with an extension. I can't imagine the Ducks being interested in Nylander at all, anyway

Anaheim easily declines A) because they are still rebuilding; B) because Zegras is worth more than Nylander 1 for 1 even with an extension in place for Nylander

Also, no way Zegras accepts 3 years for $5M. Closer to $7M

So many weird takes here...

I think a Zegras/Nylander swap would be one-for-one, and that would be fair. Nobody adds anything.

This is all sorts of wrong. There's no way Zegras is worth so much more than Nylander. Not even close. I think they're pretty even in value. Zegras is only 22, so we don't know where his ceiling is, but for arguments sake let's say he hasn't hit his ceiling, it's unlikely to be much higher than where Nylander is right now.

Now, does Nylander make sense for Anaheim? That's the real question. Given Nylander's age, I'm not quite sure since he's 27 and Anaheim is still in their rebuild, but then this begs the question, does getting Nylander speed up them building their team?

Zegras is 22 and an RFA. Nylander is 27 and a UFA at the end of the year. Nylander's extension will be more expensive than that of Zegras, and he does not fit the Ducks' timeline. Zegras is also a huge marketing asset.

Nylander would not fetch Dawson Mercer one for one, nevermind Zegras

Why on earth would a rental be worth more than a young, flashy budding star?

He's not a rental in this given situation. You are right but that is a flawed premise to base it off of.

Given that Anaheim wouldn't trade for Nylander regardless of an extension, I'm just going off what their trade values are in a vacuum

So you are doubling down on being obviously wrong, even when you are reaching the right conclusion. You do you bro.

I think it's a safe assumption that if Nylander gets moved it's to a team he'll extend with.

I don't think that's a safe assumption at all. Plenty of teams can't afford to extend him but might consider him as a rental.

Anaheim declines this, they also decline a Zegras for Nylander 1 for 1 swap

ducks pick up phone just to laugh at leafs

Why would Toronto a competing team trade Nylander as a rental?

Rental values are generally futures based. Subtracting a higher profile rental from their roster would be the exact opposite of what they should consider. They’d be better off letting Nylander walk and using him as an in house rental as their goal is to win now.

Zegras is only 22 years old, so no way has he hit his ceiling, and he's on a bad roster not surrounded with nearly the talent of Nylander. Put Zegras in the role Nylander plays and I'm willing to bet he puts up better numbers than nylander. Matthews, Marner and Zegras on the PP1 would be lights out.

That said, Zegras defense is terrible, but again, he's only 22 years old.

Leafs are going to make Nylander work at the end of the day Nylander is far more valuable than keeping Domi, Bertuzzi or Klingberg as much as they will be liked those other guys will have to sacrifice to stay and Nylander will get his piece of the pie because he's too valuable my prediction is that he signs in January or February but either way even up til September 2024 he will get his deal done with the leafs.

Zegras gets much more

Right, and I said as much in another post on here, but just because he's 22 years old doesn't give him a leg up on Nylander. REALISTICALLY, what could his ceiling be? Is he a point per game guy? A 90 point guy? 100 point guy? Obviously anything is possible, but REALISTICALLY if he hits Nylander's numbers that would be amazing. That said, RIGHT NOW, Nylander is a bigger impact player on the ice, so I'm off-setting that against Zegras' age.

But let me point out again, because on capfriendly you have repeat everything because nobody reads... My argument isn't about this making sense, I'm just talking value. I don't think Nylander makes much sense to a team like ANA.

It's completely a safe assumption. See the Timo Meier situation.

Meier was traded without guarantee of extension and talks didn't begin until after the playoffs. Plus he was an RFA.

Not to mention NJ actually had the cap space for him. The rangers for example could squeeze him with retention and whatnot but couldn't keep him

I understand you are talking value and the value is not determined with a 22 year old what his impact is today, but what his ceiling looks like. Further, value is also determined by the contract value and Zegras will be significantly cheaper on a bridge. Nobody is arguing if Nylander is putting up better numbers as of last season, that's objective and true, but he's also at his career peak (his ceiling) and surrounded by a way more talented team and linemates, but that will come at a much bigger cap hit as well. Meanwhile, Zegras is on a bad team with bad linemates and showing a lot at only 22 years old. Again, put Zegras on nylander's line in Toronto and on the PP1 and his numbers would dramatically increase.

I don't think there is a GM that would argue long term, which this trade is given Nylander's extension, that Zegras provides more value over the next 3 to 5 years all things considered.

He just took 5.75M