Nylander silences his critics with tremendous play since signing his extension

With the Vancouver Canucks and forward Elias Pettersson agreeing to an eight-year contract extension worth $92.8M on Saturday morning, the average annual value is set at $11.6M, just $100K higher than what the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander agreed to for his contract extension earlier this season.

When you compare the two Swedish forwards, despite Nylander being two years older, their numbers during the past three seasons are almost identical with the exception of Nylander having more shots than Pettersson.


There was some speculation when Nylander signed his deal that he may see a significant amount of regression in his level of production after having cashed in. However, a quick look at Nylander's production since he signed his extension tells an entirely different story. One where he's worth every penny.


Nylander has continued his strong offensive play, scoring 12 goals and adding 17 assists for a total of 29 points in 23 games (including last night's win over the Rangers) since signing his mammoth extension.



At the moment, all of Nylander, Matthews and Marner are among the league's top-12 point-getters, with Nylander ranking 5th in the league, ahead of Matthews (8th) and Marner (11th).


In a "bet on yourself" contract season, it looks like Nylander has found another gear as he's producing at the highest level he's produced at during his NHL career while also being more responsible defensively. This has led to Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe being able to trust Nylander by placing him in penalty killing scenarios as well. This has been a tremendous year for Nylander, both with his extension and with his growth as a player.

With William staying put for eight more seasons, and now with Pettersson signed for 8 more years in Vancouver, it will be interesting to see how the two Swedes stack up in the scoring race as they play out their enormous new contracts and who can help to carry their team further in the postseason.