Is what a pessimist would say.
There is no excuse to not have William Nylander on the team right now. Anything under $8 million on eight year deal will eventually provide value when the cap goes up and Nylander has a hall of fame career.
But a team must be frugal. The Leafs have a plan and they are sticking to it. In order to keep their core together, they’ve got to get a slight discount to do and still fill out the rest of the roster.
It’s a disaster that Nylander is not in camp.