Brian Burke: Leafs 'gave away the farm' with Nylander deal

A former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs believes the current front office made a misstep in re-signing William Nylander.

Minutes before Saturday's deadline, Nylander and the Maple Leafs agreed to a six-year, $45-million extension, ending a months-long stalemate and avoiding the possibility of the Swedish forward sitting out the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign.

But the deal is apparently too rich for Brian Burke, who served as Maple Leafs GM from 2008 to 2013.

"My objection to the Nylander deal is two-fold. One, he's the sixth-best player on the team," Burke said Saturday on Sportsnet's To The Point. "He's the sixth-best, arguably the seventh-best, on the Toronto Maple Leafs and they paid him all this money.

"I also think that if they were going to 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 camp."

Nylander is the first member of the Maple Leafs' Big Three to reach restricted free agency, with fellow forwards Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews due for new deals next summer. Those contracts, plus the signing of John Tavares last offseason, could force other players to move elsewhere.

"I do believe (Nylander won the negotiation)," Burke added. "The notion that you'll put more money on the table late, that's a lesson that the agents for these other players are going to learn that with Toronto all you have to do is hold out and they'll up the ante. That's dangerous ground."

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