With training camp just four days away, speculation around the Toronto Maple Leafs is that the team could start off without the services of William Nylander.
Mirrored in a contract dispute, Nylander is currently a restricted free agent and is slated to begin camp absent from his teammates.
One player that doesn’t think that’ll be the case is John Tavares.
The newly signed centre was asked about Nylander’s situation and confidently answered that he believes Nylander will be in attendance when camp kicks off in Niagara Falls on Friday.
"We believe we're going to have Willy (Nylander) here to start camp," Nylander told reporters on Monday.
"[Nylander] is obviously a big part of the team and a big part of the future, so this has kind of been proven in the past and even with a few other players around the League, guys kind of in this situation. It always seems to come down to the wire a little bit," Tavares said.
Pretty strong words from a potential captain candidate.
Leafs GM general manager told Bob McKenzie last week that he doesn’t expect the 22-year-old to report unless he has a contract.
"I would think that like most players, that if training camp was to start and there was no contract, that the player and his representative would elect not to attend. But I haven't had that discussion with them, I'm just surmising based on history."
"We're continuing to work towards a solution to it and I'm confident that we'll get there."
Nylander has expressed in the past that he wants to sign a long-term contract, but with camp about to get underway, the exact dollar figure and term still remains to be seen.
Contract comparables for Nylander include Nikolaj Ehlers ($6 million), David Pastrnak ($6.66 million) and Dylan Larkin ($6.1 million).
In back-to-back regular seasons, Nylander posted 61 points, while contributing 8 more in 13 career playoff games.
Nylander was not in attendance for the Maple Leafs charity golf event on Monday.
