Leafs prospect William Nylander is dominating the AHL despite being young enough to pass for a high school senior.

There are compelling reasons to call him up to the NHL.

• The Leafs are bad and have scored the 6th fewest goals in the league.
• Nylander leads the AHL in scoring with 23 points in 17 games.
• It's his No. 1 goal and he doesn't seem to have trouble with goals.

But calling up Nylander isn't best for the Leafs long-term.

Why?

Steve Yzerman sits alone in a dark room, plotting his next move. "Lord Yzerman", his assistant meekly offers, "a decision must be made. What shall we do about S-s-s-s-s..." He can't bring himself to say the name. Yzerman looks at him with cold, steal eyes. "Bring me the head of young Douglas Hamilton."

Steven Stamkos is off the market. No need to continually refresh HockeyBuzz to find out the latest outlandish fable concerning who is soon to trade for the talented pivot.

Today the Lightning signed Stamkos to a five-year deal worth $37.5 million, which works out to an average annual cap hit of $7.5 million. Some might suggest he left some money on the table, but it’s important to remember that he was an RFA and couldn’t truly maximize his value as if he was a UFA.

This signing marks the first major RFA to re-sign with his club, leaving Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, Zach Parise, and Luke Schenn as the most talented players currently without a deal. It also marks an end to the various trade rumours and offer sheet speculation that happens when there is little to discuss during the summer.

Stamkos wasn't presented with an offer sheet because the reality was that it was a futile venture. The Lightning possessed enough cap space to match any offer another club could have imagined extending to Stamkos. And any notion of a trade was equally ridiculous because there are no teams that would possibly consider moving a 21-year-old franchise player who has already scored 119 goals in his first three seasons. Even if the signing means the Lightning spend a disproportionate amount of money on their forwards it doesn’t matter, you find a way to shed salary elsewhere. I understand it made for a good story, but let’s be realistic, you can probably count on one hand the players you would actually trade Stamkos for.

What’s really interesting about the Stamkos signing is what it means going forward.

Take a slap shot to the face in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. Come back to the ice after missing only five minutes. Just another day in the playoffs.

During the first half of the NHL season the Hart Trophy race for most valuable player was essentially locked up. Sidney Crosby was demoralizing the league on a nightly basis and was on pace for 64 goals and an obscene 132 points. This would have been the highest point total since 1995-1996 when Mario Lemieux scored 161 points and Jaromir Jagr scored 149. Crosby still leads all Penguins’ scorers in points by nearly 20 and has the 11th most goals in the league, despite last playing nearly three months ago.

Unfortunately, David Steckel robbed us of a truly historic season. Considering the current state of the NHL (read: goalies are actually willing to block shots, unlike the 80s) Crosby's scoring rate was truly remarkable. I’m not going to say it was more impressive than some of the crazy seasons Gretzky and Lemieux put up, but it was the best hockey from an individual in more than a decade.

Due to Crosby’s injury the title of league’s most valuable player is up for grabs. A strong case can be made for many players. It seems like there is a flavour of the week for the media who they begin hyping relentlessly, then it's on to the next player after team x wins a few in a row. With the tight playoff races in both conferences (especially the West), it may come down to which teams make the playoffs.

From the mid-90s to the lockout in 2004-2005, it wasn’t uncommon for the NHL’s leading goal scorer to score less than 50. It was a little embarrassing. That’s one reason it was so exhilarating when Alex Ovechkin scored 65 goals in 2007-2008. It’s also why everyone is getting so excited about Steven Stamkos this season.