Former Toronto GM not happy with Nylander signing

With the Toronto Maple Leafs signing William Nylander to a 6-year, $41.4 million contract 5 minutes before the deadline yesterday, fans and hockey people alike have either shown approval or disapproval surrounding the signing. One person who's not happy with the signing is former Toronto general manager Brian Burke.


Burke was a guest on Sportsnet's To The Point with David Amber and during the segment, Burke showed his displeasure surrounding the Leafs and the contract they gave to Nylander yesterday.

My objection to the Nylander deal is twofold. One, he's the sixth best player on the team, arguably the 7th best player on the Toronto Maple Leafs and they paid him all this money. I also think that if they're gonna throw this much money at him they should have done it in August and not had him miss training camp. If you're going to give away the farm like this, do it early, and get him in training camp, the former Toronto GM commented during the show.

 Burke also believes that Nylander pretty much fleeced the Toronto organization and that Nylander will hurt the Maple Leafs' future negotiations because how the process played out in the eyes of player agents.

I do believe he did and also I think the notion that you will put more money on the table late, that's a lesson that other agents for these other players are gonna learn. With Toronto all you have to do is hold out and they will up the ante, and that's dangerous ground boy, Burke continued.

Although Burke raised some quite interesting points, Burke has also criticised other things that have happened during the season such as Carolina's post game celebrations with the crowd. But do you think Toronto's future is hurt by signing Nylander to that contract?