In case you missed it, William Nylander signed his new six-year deal on Saturday. Now that we’ve swept up after the party, it’s time to take a look at the complicated salary and cap hit numbers.
As was discussed at length during the world’s longest and most-watched contract negotiations, when an NHL RFA signs late, their cap hit and the AAV (average annual value) of the contract is not the same every year. The ongoing theory over the last weeks and months was that the Leafs wanted to sign this deal late in order to reduce the cap hit in subsequent years.