Around the League 39: Will Kessel Sign in Winnipeg? The World Waits with Dogged Breath!

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Matthews re-signed, 4x elevendy billion. Seriously, $13.25 million dollars a year. American dollars. That should help keep the Leafs depth shitty for a while.

33.4 million with 8 forwards, 3 defenders, and a goalie signed.

Sounds like a lot but they would need 2 top 6 wingers, 2 top 4 defenders, and a starter goalie.

 

[chaz4hockey]

33.4 million with 8 forwards, 3 defenders, and a goalie signed.

Sounds like a lot but they would need 2 top 6 wingers, 2 top 4 defenders, and a starter goalie.

Is Nylander signable now after the Magnitude of Matthew’s contract (he wanted AM to take discount if he was asked to take one)?

 

[htdoc]

So instead of fixing the issue that created all these depth problems for them the last few years, they give in and cave to everything Matthews wants and ensure they will be a top heavy team struggling to fill out the rest of their roster with quality for the next couple years until he decides to milk them again or just leaves…

he doesn’t take any kind of a discount whatsoever and refuses to sign for term all so he can sign another deal in 4 years. Zero playoff success to show for all that money spent on him and a couple others…


he may be a top forward but is also a shining example of how not to build a roster…. Not like new guy Brad was going to blow it up and trade Matthews when he wouldn’t sign for term and/or sign for a break…. Good luck getting Nylander extended now…. Oh and Marner needs a new deal worth 16.25m aav as well right?

players are all underneath doing what they have to do to take care of #1. But it screams selfish to me. He gave them nothing to hang their hat on…. Max dollars and min term So he can sign another deal with another raise in a couple years. Aho worked the angles to get two paydays with his strategy coming out of his entry level deal and not wanting to sign for max term and thus using the offer sheet to get the term he wanted…. But he did sign max term this time so hopefully at the end this becomes a better deal for the team. Matthews has now pulled the term thing twice to get three kicks at the can. No one else has done it In this era. He’s the only one so far. I will never feel sorry for Toronto fans…. But it would suck if our best players did that here….

 

[Lempo]

Puckpedia has the particulars for Matthews' new contract.

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TH][/TH]

[TH]2024-2025[/TH]
[TH]2025-2026[/TH]
[TH]2026-2027[/TH]
[TH]2027-2028[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cap Hit[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]UFA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]AAV[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD]$13,250,000[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Performance Bonuses[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Base Salary[/TD]
[TD]$775,000[/TD]
[TD]$775,000[/TD]
[TD]$900,000[/TD]
[TD]$900,000[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Signing Bonuses[/TD]
[TD]$15,925,000[/TD]
[TD]$14,425,000[/TD]
[TD]$10,180,000[/TD]
[TD]$9,120,000[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Total Salary[/TD]
[TD]$16,700,000[/TD]
[TD]$15,200,000[/TD]
[TD]$11,080,000[/TD]
[TD]$10,020,000[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Minors Salary[/TD]
[TD]$16,700,000[/TD]
[TD]$15,200,000[/TD]
[TD]$11,080,000[/TD]
[TD]$10,020,000[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Clauses[/TD]
[TD]NMC[/TD]
[TD]NMC[/TD]
[TD]NMC[/TD]
[TD]NMC[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

No one is surprised to see it's signing bonuses to the max allowed amount with only the league minimum for base salary and front-loaded to the maximum:

0.6 x 16.7M = 10.02M allowed minimum salary for any year
0.25 * 16.7M = 4.175M allowed difference between any two immediately adjacent year
15.2M - 11.08M = 4.12M difference between years 2 and 3

CBA §50.7(a) amended to provide as follows: For all "Front-Loaded SPCs" (as defined below), the difference between the stated Player Salary and Bonuses in any immediately adjacent League Years of that SPC cannot exceed twenty-five (25) percent of the stated Player Salary and Bonuses of the first League Year of such Front-Loaded SPC. Additionally, under no circumstances may the stated Player Salary and Bonuses in any League Year of a Front-Loaded SPC be less than sixty (60) percent of the highest stated Player Salary and Bonuses in a League Year of that same Front-Loaded SPC.

It's possible that the new CBA of 2026* will see a raise in the league minimum, and if/when that happens Matthews' contract will be amended (again) with a minor raise to the base salary of the latter years to comply.

* Per the terms of the Current CBA Memorandum of Understanding (Signed in 2020), the CBA is set to expire following the 2025-2026 Season. However, if the Players' Escrow Account owing to the Owners is between $125M and $250M at June 30, 2025, the CBA is automatically extended for 1 year through the 2026-2027 season.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I mean, what is all being said here is true, but what other options do the Leafs have? Let him walk? Trade him? That'd just put them in a worse position.

 

[Chrispy]

I mean, what is all being said here is true, but what other options do the Leafs have? Let him walk? Trade him? That'd just put them in a worse position.

Agreed. Toronto doesn't fix this by moving Matthews. Or Marner.

They fix it by moving Nylander and definitely by letting Tavares walk after next year. With his NMC, it's doubtful they can move Tavares elsewhere.

 

[Svechhammer]

Matthews re-signed, 4x elevendy billion. Seriously, $13.25 million dollars a year. American dollars. That should help keep the Leafs depth shitty for a while.

If ever we were looking for the opportune moment to trade for Nylander.....

 

[Daeavorn]

Matthews may be a good player but man he sure is a prick. He has every right to milk them. If I were the fans Im not sure i'd be totally okay with whats going on. Especially if they continue to suck ass in the playoffs.

 

[Svechhammer]

Matthews may be a good player but man he sure is a prick. He has every right to milk them. If I were the fans Im not sure i'd be totally okay with whats going on. Especially if they continue to suck ass in the playoffs.

Oh there's no coincidence that he's only doing a 4 year deal now so that he can get an even bigger payday in a few years when the cap goes up. Toronto fans are celebrating this now, but man... be careful what you wish for. This deal puts them in a bind now, and almost guarantees that they'll be in a bigger bind in a few years. When the next contract is signed, I bet that Matthews alone will cost as much as, if not more, than Svech and Aho combined. And if not, it'll be real close.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I mean, what is all being said here is true, but what other options do the Leafs have? Let him walk? Trade him? That'd just put them in a worse position.

They've buried themselves by handing out huge albatross contracts left and right so yeah there was nothing else they could've done here with Matthews' demands. But they could have approached all of their negotiations years ago with Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Matthews like the borg does and frankly if they did they could probably have those 4 signed for $10M less total per year. I don't think those 4 players are each individually so selfish as to scratch and claw for every penny, the Leafs have enabled them and once they each see that the others are getting the massive contract none will settle for less and be the idiot taking less while others aren't.

 

[Chrispy]

They've buried themselves by handing out huge albatross contracts left and right so yeah there was nothing else they could've done here with Matthews' demands. But they could have approached all of their negotiations years ago with Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Matthews like the borg does and frankly if they did they could probably have those 4 signed for $10M less total per year. I don't think those 4 players are each individually so selfish as to scratch and claw for every penny, the Leafs have enabled them and once they each see that the others are getting the massive contract none will settle for less and be the idiot taking less while others aren't.

I don't think they would have landed Tavares with Borg-style negotiations.

But I also don't think that would have been a huge setback for Toronto long-term.

 

[Svechhammer]

With all of this said, I am enjoying the NHL media trip over itself to explain why the Matthews contract is actually a bargain and a good deal for the Leafs.

Will make it that much more interesting when shit inevitably hits the fan in the near future with other contracts and the team losing early again behind absolutely no defense and goaltending to speak of.

 

[chaz4hockey]

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

The league would be more fun if offer sheets were a regular thing

 

[bleedgreen]

Matthews has TO in his pocket. They had no choice. They can’t sell it to the fan base that they don’t need him and that they’d be just fine with the futures they’d get in trade or the cap space that they’d have.

I bet a good gm could take that cap space and make them a better team though.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I don't think they would have landed Tavares with Borg-style negotiations.

But I also don't think that would have been a huge setback for Toronto long-term.

yes that's completely fair but as you said they probably shouldn't have even gone after him. he wanted to go to Toronto too so he may have taken less if they pushed back on his contract demands...

 

[SvechneJerk]

Oh there's no coincidence that he's only doing a 4 year deal now so that he can get an even bigger payday in a few years when the cap goes up. Toronto fans are celebrating this now, but man... be careful what you wish for. This deal puts them in a bind now, and almost guarantees that they'll be in a bigger bind in a few years. When the next contract is signed, I bet that Matthews alone will cost as much as, if not more, than Svech and Aho combined. And if not, it'll be real close.

I may be alone on this, but, I’d rather have Aho & Svech than one Austin Matthews, every day of the week & twice on Sundays.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

I may be alone on this, but, I’d rather have Aho & Svech than one Austin Matthews, every day of the week & twice on Sundays.

I don’t think you’re alone on that lol

He definitely had TO bent over tho. I really do question some of these guys who absolutely must maximize their value (in a world of guaranteed contracts) at the expense of winning.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

One thing that I will credit Dubas on in Toronto is that he was always able to find decent-to-good players in the $1M-$2M range in UFA to fill out their roster. As the cap goes up, though, that becomes a less realistic way to build a team without a large stash of ELCs.

 

[Svechhammer]

One thing that I will credit Dubas on in Toronto is that he was always able to find decent-to-good players in the $1M-$2M range in UFA to fill out their roster. As the cap goes up, though, that becomes a less realistic way to build a team without a large stash of ELCs.

It'll be very interesting to see how he handles the tail end of the Crosby/Malkin years. He seems like a real strong candidate to burn assets in desperation of one last Cup for them, only to seem them hit the proverbial age cliff and realize they have 5 years of seriously dark times ahead of them, with future assets already burned to the ground.

 

[DaveG]

I don't think they would have landed Tavares with Borg-style negotiations.

But I also don't think that would have been a huge setback for Toronto long-term.

not landing Tavares means they keep Kadri and keep the dollar value down on Matthews and Marner, making them a much deeper team the next few years and not having to pay us a first to take Marleau. So quite obviously I thank them for being f***ing idiots and bidding against themselves with Tavares screwing their depth and cap situation going forward, because if they were smart, we don't have Seth Jarvis.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

It'll be very interesting to see how he handles the tail end of the Crosby/Malkin years. He seems like a real strong candidate to burn assets in desperation of one last Cup for them, only to seem them hit the proverbial age cliff and realize they have 5 years of seriously dark times ahead of them, with future assets already burned to the ground.

Honestly, I think that Dubas is doing the right thing in Pittsburgh, if I really think hard about it. It's better for that core to go out with a spectacular bang than with a whimper, and Karlsson gives them a genuine chance to do that.

 

[Lempo]

They've buried themselves by handing out huge albatross contracts left and right so yeah there was nothing else they could've done here with Matthews' demands. But they could have approached all of their negotiations years ago with Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Matthews like the borg does and frankly if they did they could probably have those 4 signed for $10M less total per year. I don't think those 4 players are each individually so selfish as to scratch and claw for every penny, the Leafs have enabled them and once they each see that the others are getting the massive contract none will settle for less and be the idiot taking less while others aren't.

I don't think they could. They could have done with not doing the Tavares debacle, but after that... Matthews was going to get his McDavid-comparable contract, and Marner would insist one-upping Matthews after having been screwed out of the ELC Schedule B Performance Bonus by Lou. After those contracts Nylander would have had hard time signing team-friendly even if he wasn't a Nylander.

 

[DaveG]

One thing that I will credit Dubas on in Toronto is that he was always able to find decent-to-good players in the $1M-$2M range in UFA to fill out their roster. As the cap goes up, though, that becomes a less realistic way to build a team without a large stash of ELCs.

I question how much of that was Dubas and how much of that was guys wanting to play for their hometown team for one last go of things to go after a cup.

Bunting was obviously a great find for them a few years back. But much of their other depth signed there on discounts because it was the hometown team (Simmonds, Spezza, Gio) and they weren't a complete tire fire. If they're, say, San Jose instead they don't get the same level of guys willing to play there for basically nothing.

 

[Svechhammer]

Honestly, I think that Dubas is doing the right thing in Pittsburgh, if I really think hard about it. It's better for that core to go out with a spectacular bang than with a whimper, and Karlsson gives them a genuine chance to do that.

Yeah but at the same time Karlsson won't help keep the puck out of their own net, and that is a problem for them. In fact, he arguably makes it even tougher to do that, which isn't great when he'll be on their top defensive line.

Im not even sure they're a playoff team in the Metro right now.