Facts and agendas, by person, IMHO…
Willy Nylander – to get the biggest payday possible. Not greedy, IMO, just doing his due diligence, with daddy and agent helping to run the show. I think he truly wants to stay with Toronto, but is following the process down to the wire to maximize his paycheck.
Kyle Dubas – to get Nylander back in the lineup this season, at the lowest cap hit possible. Dollars are precious considering Marner and Matthews are going to make more and need a contract for next season. He has already gone public stating that he will have all three back with the team, so his top priority remains to stick by his word. Might have some birthday cake later today if time permits.
Mike Babcock – to have the most stacked lineup as possible at his disposal. Seems to be adding Nylander into his media scrums more and more these past few days, maybe because he knows something, but more likely because he’s growing impatient with things and doesn’t want the deadline to pass and not have #29.
Michael Nylander – to get his son the biggest payday possible, and make sure he is happy with the outcome. As a former professional athlete, he knows the process. As a father, he for sure factors in his child’s happiness along with dollars into the equation.
Lewis Gross – to get his client the biggest payday possible, so he can cut the biggest commission cheque possible. Doesn’t want his client to regret a decision down the road, so he is representing him to the best of his ability and likely is taking a lot of direction from Michael.
Elliot Friedman – to get as many people as possible to listen to him, as with any other media personality. As a well recognized “insider”, he will be certain to separate opinion from fact before stating anything, but he knows full well that his opinion will generate buzz if it has any drama to it, like his latest opinion that this will be Willy’s last season in Toronto. He bases it on nothing more than what we’ve already known ever since the big three plus JT came into the fold, which is that cap dollars will be tight. So for me its just an opinion that he somewhat trolled out there because there was no news from actual sources, because it gets people talking about him.
Chris Johnston – to also get as many people to listen to him, and also considered a well recognized insider. Seems to be less opinionated than Friedman, and sticks to facts, like how he reported that the two sides were $500K apart last Saturday.
Bob MacKenzie – to remain as cautious as possible with anything he says. After all, he is the godfather of insiders for many people, so he takes the most caution in separating fact from opinion. Because of his strong reputation, doesn’t need to throw out click bait tweets or dramatic opinions, as that would just hurt his rep in the long run. Likely has zero insider information, as it seems like the Leafs are feeding their facts, few and far between, through the Friedman and Johnston.
Pierre LeBrun – also a very respected insider, who also wants the most people as possible to listen to him. Recently tweeted, likely based on a source from another NHL team, that the Leafs have again asked teams to provide their best offers as the process comes down to the wire.
Darren Dreger – again, another top “insider”, but often sounds like he has nothing but an opinion on the topic.
Brian Burke – former Leafs GM who seems like he is still hurt by his firing from MLSE. Has zero insider information, and likes to stir the pot with comments on things like offer sheets and being stubborn near the end of negotiations, because he has it in for the Leafs.
Marc Savard – respectable former player trying to make a name for himself in the media. Does radio for Leaf broadcasts with Gord Stellick on the FAN 590. Seems like he had some prior inside knowledge on coach firings (Yeo and McLellan), and doesn’t just randomly tweet things for attention, so his tweet that $6.9M likely gets Nylander in a Leafs uniform has some weight to it, IMO.
Berger/Blundell/Other rats on twitter – media outcasts throwing darts to try and get lucky with baseless announcements. Don’t pay any attention to these clowns, their reputations speak for themselves.
Am I missing anyone?
And with that said, I think the media is mostly in the dark because Dubas has run a tight ship. They’ve gone through the process with Willy down to the wire, and as Johnston/Friedman reported, are likely very close now. For me, the Lebrun tweet was not a huge surprise considering its November 29th. Just par for the course. The Leafs are trying to get Willy’s camp to feel some pressure to sign at their number. I’d be shocked if a trade actually went down at this point. Since they are so close on salary, and sitting out the season would be a big failure for both parties (reputation-wise and operationally), I think both sides will eventually meet in the middle on the $300K gap on deadline day, and until then, we’ll continue to hear nothing but speculation.
