This is not so much a story about William Nylander.

This is a story about four restricted free agents who were not signed until after the NHL season started and how their careers unfolded. And today marks the anniversary of Kyle’s Turris’ signing, the one who dared fly closest to the sun.

But before we touch on Kyle, let’s skip to the three more recent 2016 signings first.

Although Anaheim GM Bob Murray ended up going into the season to sign two of his RFA’s, the deals did not take long to complete. We should keep in mind that the season only started on October 13th for the Ducks, so Rakell was signed within 24 hours of the first game.

NHL.com

Rickard Rakell, a young Swedish left winger was selected 30th in the 2011 draft and had scored 43 points including 20 goals in the prior season, a season that saw the Ducks lose in the first round of the playoffs and their coach Bruce Boudreau fired. That winter Rakell suffered an abdominal injury and required a second surgery in September, only weeks before the season. It’s hardly a surprise that both parties delayed the signing until his recovery and health was more certain. At age 23, he was signed to a six year x $3.8M contract.

His good friend and fellow teammate Hampus Lindholm also had extended negotiations into the season, this time for two weeks, signing for $31.5M over six years. The delay may have been driven by the timing of his friend Rakell’s signing but the Salary Cap situation in Anaheim probably played a much bigger role (sound familiar?). Cap space wasn’t freed until Simon Despres went on long-term injured reserve. Jared Clinton of The Hockey News wrote about it here:

These were two young Swedish RFA’s with tons of talent and promise, both negotiating with a team that had a salary cap reality to manage. The parallels certainly had me thinking William Nylander’s situation would resolve quickly. But I was wrong.

Now we start moving into more confrontational situations. Defenceman Jacob Trouba, a former #9 pick overall and the Winnipeg Jets dragged negotiations out until November 7th 2016. They eventually agreed to a two-year contract worth $3M a year. The season before Trouba had reportedly asked to be traded out of Winnipeg because he wasn’t getting top 4 minutes. Now that the deal was signed, GM Cheveldayoff had this to say (from Sportsnet):

“The ink’s just drying on this contract here so let’s let everything play itself out as it goes,” said Cheveldayoff.

In other words, the parties had called a truce but things were still fluid. The two year bridge meant that on his next contract Trouba would have arbitration rights and sure enough, this past summer Trouba was awarded a $5.5M one year contract by an arbitrator. We’ll have to wait and see if he ever signs a long-term deal with the Jets. Certainly the process has not been smooth for either party.

Last but not least, let’s turn to Kyle Turris, the Icarus of RFA’s. Kyle was a young centre drafted 3rd overall in 2007 by the Phoenix Coyotes. It was this date, November 22nd seven years ago that saw 22 year-old Turris sign a two year bridge deal worth a total of $2.8M, a full 53 days after the season had started.

Kyle was apparently trying to force a trade out of Phoenix as reported by The Hockey News. Here’s another situation where a high pick reportedly wanted out.

And his wish was soon granted. If he had not signed by December 1st he would have been ineligible to play in the NHL for the rest of the season. But GM Don Maloney took only 25 more days to trade Kyle Turris to Ottawa. The bridge deal was a short-term necessity and helped pave the way for an eventual trade. Interestingly, Kyle Turris was later traded from Ottawa in the famous Duchene three team swap. Turris said this after his trade to Nashville.

“Things weren’t really working out with Ottawa in terms of extension,” Turris admitted. “And then the way [the trade] all happened, it was very quick.” (from Sportsnet)

Contract negotiations may never come easy for Kyle but his trade to Nashville ended with a long-term contract signing. Let’s hope that his third team is home and he can just play hockey now.

So that’s the story of four promising young RFA’s who couldn’t reach a deal during the off-season. What have we learned?

The longer it goes, the more likely we see a short-term bridge deal. The only long-term deals happened in Anaheim in October.

Sometimes the only way to fit a young player under the Cap is to subtract somewhere else. In Lindholm’s case, that was an LTIR move.

The longer it goes, the more likely the player will end up repeating a tough negotiation stance as we saw with Jacob Trouba and Kyle Turris

The only case that went right up to the wire saw the player traded shortly thereafter

Kyle Turris and Kyle Dubas. Which Kyle will be the answer in William Nylander’s final week? The week ahead will keep rolling under his feet like a moving sidewalk and no one knows where it will end.

There is no evidence that William ever actually wanted to be traded at the outset of negotiations but at this point, it may have become a de facto reality.

I hope not. Because William Nylander has been one of my favourite Leafs and whatever happens, I will always be a fan. I still have my money on a bridge deal but after writing this, maybe I have a few more doubts that this saga will end well.