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Could the Predators make a trade for Toronto's William Nylander?

The Nashville Predators are well positioned to take a swing at William Nylander.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to shake things up following another early playoff exit, the Nashville Predators could be a fitting trade partner.

Toronto lost to the Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and questions have been raised about splitting up the core after narrowly avoiding being swept and dropping the series in five games.

While Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares might be off the table (and too expensive to move for fair value), William Nylander is a a very tantalizing option, according to Ann Kimmel of Locked on Predators.

"I like the idea of Nylander with the Nashille Predators," Kimmel said. "He's 27 years old which in hockey years is a little bit older, but you also have such a young crop of guys coming up. He's a right winger, and picture Nylander on one side with Filip Forsberg on the other."

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Nashville has a young center in Cody Glass who's looking to take the next step and could benefit from playing between those two star players. Glass, 24, was drafted sixth overall in 2017 and is coming off a career-high 14 goals and 21 assists.

Nylander has one year left on a contract that carries a cap hit of $6,962,366 and just recorded a career-high 40 goals and 87 points this past season.

What would the cost be, though?

Toronto would likely be looking for one or two first-round picks and some top prospects, both of which Nashville possesses. 

Ideally, Toronto would want either Jusse Saros or, more likely, Nashville's top goaltending prospect in Yaroslav Askarov, and that could be a very tough ask.

His pending status as a potential unrestricted free agent in 2024 also makes things murky, but Nylander would be in high demand if made available by the Maple Leafs.

It could be a way for incoming general manager Barry Trotz to make his early mark.

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