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TORONTO – Kasperi Kapanen is waiting, worried and worried.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs would move closer to the NHL's signing deadline for Group 2 freestyle players and would not have a new deal.
"To be honest, I do not know what to think," Kapanen said Thursday. "It was as if the other day he had two weeks left and now he has two days, time flies."
Nylander must have a new contract signed by the league before 5 pm HE Saturday to play this season.
Negotiations are increasingly tense, but there is also an emotional impact on those on the margins of the process. Kapanen is at the top of the list. He has lived with Nylander for the past two years, considers him a "brother" and says his season with the Leafs has not been as enjoyable as it could have been without his boyfriend.
"I'm not going to lie: I've had some dreams where he signed up in my sleep and I wake up and it's just a big disappointment," Kapanen said. "I sent him a text message to tell him and we laughed.
"Obviously, it would be nice to have it right here."
The Leafs did incredibly well without him, with an 18-8-0 record to start the season, thanks in part to Kapanen's ability to sit in his former position alongside Auston Matthews and play high-end offensive games.
It is only at this eleventh hour that the weight of the situation is finally felt by the team, which will not play before Saturday night in Minnesota, after the deadline for signing Nylander has been exceeded.
"Time is running out," said Matthews. "You know that he wants to be here, he wants to play hockey, it's essential … We all hope that the problem will be solved so that the media do not ask us every day and that we can just focus on the things that obviously help this team, but he's a big part of that team. "
Mike Babbad has chosen to project an air of optimism on the situation of Nylander every day during the last week, sometimes even referring to him during press meetings without having been invited to do so.
The Leafs coach does not hide his desire to bring back the 22-year-old winger in his training. He even seemed to indicate that he would play against him immediately after his return to Toronto, while Nylander was not in a competitive environment since the seventh game played in Boston on April 25.
The logic is that something happens before Saturday. In Nylander's position, no one chose to spend a whole season away from December 1, the deadline set for signing. The Leafs are also very motivated to bring him back as they try to get into the Stanley Cup race this season.
"(GM Kyle Dubas) and I talk about it every day, so I'm aware of what's going on," Babbad said. "There are a lot of opinions, do not confuse opinions and facts, we think Willy is going to be here and we think Willy will be here for a long time, and we think it will be a Leaf career.
"That's what we think."
Perhaps these words will be a comfort to Kapanen, who clearly feared something was going wrong.
He went back so far with Nylander that they were rivals before becoming best friends and teammates in Toronto. They competed in various national team competitions as they grew up. Finland has once bowed 10-0 to Sweden at home in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Under-18 World Championship.
Nylander scored two goals and two badists in the game. Kapanen did not forget.
"At the time, I felt we were the best of each team," he said. "Personally, I felt like I was trying to be a bit physical and put myself in the skin and try to get him out of his game [it would work]. Willy, obviously, he would not come after me, but he just played well and it pissed me off.
"We never really talked much, but I think it was just a good rivalry."
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They had a lot in common as sons of European NHL players who were raised mostly in North America. The two hopes were well ranked in the 2014 draft – the Leafs took Nylander eighth, the Penguins took Kapanen 22nd – and had the chance to spend time together before the event.
But it was not until Kapanen's arrival in Toronto as part of Phil Kessel's trading in July 2015 that their bromance flourished.
"Once I was exchanged, we started hanging out," Kapanen said. "That's it."
Nylander stayed at home in Sweden while contract negotiations lasted for several months. He skated with the AIK team under 20 in Stockholm two to three times a week in the last 12 weeks. He also practiced several times with an Austrian team and worked with Jocke Ahlgren.
Kapanen, meanwhile, moved alone to Toronto and played very well in a bigger role with the Leafs, scoring 10 goals and 18 points in 26 games.
It should be the best time of his life, but something is missing.
"I was dating this guy every day," Kapanen said. "My kind of daily routine revolved around him and I worked together, and of course, sometimes, there are days when I do not do much and I would like to spend time talking and having a buddy for me. .
"I'm sure they're figuring it out right now, it will be tight.
"We will see."
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