News Article: Auston Matthews - August 1st., Contract Crickets

[PromisedLand]

He shall be judged by his actions.

He was overpaid in his last deal and only settled for short-term 5 years.

His PPG in playoffs is 0.88 and he scores at a 36 goal pace in the post season.

Here we are again (and all speculation points to) another short-term 5 year deal north of 13.5 million per.

It doesn't matter what's public or not before it happens. If Matthews loved the Leafs and wanted to take less so we can build a better, deeper team, he'd already have agreed to sign long-term for 8 x 12.6 (tied for highest paid in NHL history).

Too many people are giving Matthews some odd benefit of the doubt when his actions have told, and continue to tell, a completely different story. Matthews could right the ship tonight by coming out and committing to taking less, long-term, leaving a nice chunk of money on the table so we can resign Nylander and still add. But has he? Of course not. He's riding this out to see if Nylander is dealt so he knows exactly how much is left over that he can add to his salary.

Matthews is no longer a rookie, he's been in the league a long time. If you don't know what he's all about when it comes to his contracts by now, I don't think you've been paying attention.

He will be 26 when the upcoming season starts; and if he signed a 5 yr deal he will be 27 when his new contract kicks in for the season the year after.

He will soon find out that human body doesn't heal as quickly after 30 and that will be his own doing looking to maximize his earnings; and I am almost positive he won't get paid as much when he signs his deal at 32 yrs old

 

[Boxscore]

Matthews did not put a gun to the head of the GM to sign the last Deal. The Leafs offered him that contract and he accepted it.

So you think the Leafs picked up the phone day one and said, "How about we overpay you by a lot and only give you a short-term deal so we can overpay you again in five years?"

Or, like most rational thinkers, should we consider that wasting most of a season playing a game of chicken with Nylander and losing scared Dubas into giving into Matthews demands without much push back?

Ultimately, yes, the Leafs paid Marner and Matthews insanely high contracts, but you don't think they were fighting on their end to get them? Of course they were lol. The minute the Leafs gave Tavares 11 mil on the open market, these kids started licking their chops for their big paydays.

And, let's say you're right, and in some bizarro world Matthews only asked for 10.5 x 8 but Dubas opted to give him 11.8 x 5 instead, then this new deal with Matthews should come in under the 12.6 x 8 that MacKinnon just signed for, right? Or at worst, it should be the exact same 12.6 x 8? Since Matthews is so selfless and willing to give the Leafs a hometown discount and all like you say.

 

[mcleafs]

Can you name the last Hart trophy winner who signed a new deal within the last year?

All this imbecilic talk about peers and their respective contracts.

McDavid signed his contract 6 years ago? Draisaitl did as well.
Mackinnon hasn't won a single thing for himself - his team won a cup, a team that was led by a defenseman outscoring the centre that is being put on a pedestal.
He, despite never winning any serious hardware (Calder doesn't really count) just became the highest paid player in the league. A contract that will take him into his mid to late 30's.
A player whose first 3 seasons were abysmal for a 1st overall player.
What does a player who relies on explosive skating look like at 33 - 36 years old, earning 12.6 million a year? He is going to need to learn how to defend and play sound when his legs start to falter, and that has never been a strength of his.

This is the model that people want Toronto to emulate.


Players do not get paid for team accomplishments. In fact, there are always a bunch of players shipped off immediately after winning a cup.
I know that most Leaf fans are too young to remember the Sundin to Matthews drought years, but do they remember what happened to key pieces of Chicago and LA after they traded cup wins?
They weren't rewarded for winning, they were sent packing to shed contracts against the cap.


Players are paid for what the teams project them to perform. The teams take the players' immediate past and then try to figure out what he will be like for the duration of the contract they wish to offer.

Matthews was underpaid for his past 5 seasons. McDavid has been underpaid. Draisaitl has been underpaid by a lot.

That should have literally 0 (zero) bearing on their contracts going forward and any notion that it does is just naivete materialized.

Matthews just finished 22nd in points and 14th in goals, and missed time YET AGAIN for his clearly deteriorating wrists.

Why on earth would ANYONE just assume for some reason the most recent sample is somehow the least likely to be repeated, so much so that somehow also justifies his setting the NHL record for salary by $, %, and every other metric?

It’s amazing how much no one is talking about the chance that this next contract may be the worst contract ever signed in the history of the league. We better pray last season was an absolute fluke.

 

[Ho Lee Mackinaw]

Maybe this has been already asked, but I can't take the time to read through 167 pages of posts. If so, forgive me.

Last season Auston Matthews was a shadow of his former self. Not just his 60 goal season. He was a ghost in many games and played with a lack of intensity. His blocked shots were fantastic and his takeaways were too. But his competitive edge on offense looked significantly diminished. Also, his wrist shot was a shadow of its former self. I think I saw more turnaround slap shots from the blue line/high slot last year than I did his laser like wrister. When he did shoot a wrist shot it wasn't all that special. In the handshake line against either Tampa or Florida, I saw a picture of him with a brace on his wrist.

All of this to say, has an explanation been given for both his lack of intensity/ability to dominate a game and his wrist shot's loss of power? Was he injured? Was he playing through pain? What's up with his wrist?

These are important questions going forward with his contract negotiations.

 

[Ho Lee Mackinaw]

Matthews just finished 22nd in points and 14th in goals, and missed time YET AGAIN for his clearly deteriorating wrists.

Why on earth would ANYONE just assume for some reason the most recent sample is somehow the least likely to be repeated, so much so that somehow also justifies his setting the NHL record for salary by $, %, and every other metric?

It’s amazing how much no one is talking about the chance that this next contract may be the worst contract ever signed in the history of the league. We better pray last season was an absolute fluke.

You have articulated my concern and my question about his upcoming contract. I hope this season was a fluke, but I feel like no one is asking for an explanation for his performance this past season. There were far too many games where he wasn't noticeable. Is that because he was hurt, unmotivated, or some other reason? No one knows. On top of that it often looked like he was trying not to take a wrist shot. I hope that BT is confident that Matthews can find the fire and that his wrists can recover their former glory before he backs up the truck to the bank. Or y're right, this could be a disaster of a contract.

 

[Boxscore]

That’s a bullshit take with no basis in reality. He’s been able to extend for 3 days and contracts are wildly complex. Him not being extended yet means absolutely nothing

These contracts are wildly complex yet on UFA day multiple players are signed within hours. Matthews has been a Leaf for seven years and both sides have known for a year they need to nail down a new contract. You act like this just fell from the sky.

And how wildly complex was it for Pastrnak, Hughes, MacKinnon, Tkachuk, and Stutzle to lock into 8-year deals last summer? The only reason this is complex is because Matthews wants every dollar possible and acts as if a hard cap doesn't exist. And him not being extended immediately means a lot, especially if it ends up being the reason we trade Nylander when things could have been worked out with Matthews up front.

Internally, Matthews is the measuring stick when it comes to player salaries. So getting him signed long-term (for an affordable cap hit) is a main priority, as is resetting the internal cap so the core can remain intact while better depth pieces are added.

If Matthews agrees to an 8-year deal @ 12.6 per, Nylander's deal will be based on that, not outside contracts. And if Matthews takes less then the pressure is 100% on Nylander (and eventually Marner) to do the same. But if he squeezes the Leafs for an overpayment the other players will take the same approach. This isn't rocket science here -- the Matthews deal is massively critical to the overall picture and any success the club has moving forward.

Last summer Nate MacKinnon signed an 8-year deal for 12.6 mil per. And that deal was signed while the team was spending their summer celebrating a Cup win. The blueprint for a Matthews deal is right there -- we're not reinventing the wheel. This is Auston Matthews, not a 23 year old Wayne freaking Gretzky here.

The Panthers trade for Tkachuk and within an hour a massive 8-year deal is announced. But a deal for Matthews is irregularly complex lol. It's quite baffling how some fans make every excuse for this kid and pretend the elephant isn't sitting in the room with us -- Auston Matthews is a royal pita and greedy as all heck when it comes to negotiating his contracts.

 

[Sypher04]

These contracts are wildly complex yet on UFA day multiple players are signed within hours. Matthews has been a Leaf for seven years and both sides have known for a year they need to nail down a new contract. You act like this just fell from the sky.

And how wildly complex was it for Pastrnak, Hughes, MacKinnon, Tkachuk, and Stutzle to lock into 8-year deals last summer? The only reason this is complex is because Matthews wants every dollar possible and acts as if a hard cap doesn't exist. And him not being extended immediately means a lot, especially if it ends up being the reason we trade Nylander when things could have been worked out with Matthews up front.

Internally, Matthews is the measuring stick when it comes to player salaries. So getting him signed long-term (for an affordable cap hit) is a main priority, as is resetting the internal cap so the core can remain intact while better depth pieces are added.

If Matthews agrees to an 8-year deal @ 12.6 per, Nylander's deal will be based on that, not outside contracts. And if Matthews takes less then the pressure is 100% on Nylander (and eventually Marner) to do the same. But if he squeezes the Leafs for an overpayment the other players will take the same approach. This isn't rocket science here -- the Matthews deal is massively critical to the overall picture and any success the club has moving forward.

Last summer Nate MacKinnon signed an 8-year deal for 12.6 mil per. And that deal was signed while the team was spending their summer celebrating a Cup win. The blueprint for a Matthews deal is right there -- we're not reinventing the wheel. This is Auston Matthews, not a 23 year old Wayne freaking Gretzky here.

The Panthers trade for Tkachuk and within an hour a massive 8-year deal is announced. But a deal for Matthews is irregularly complex lol. It's quite baffling how some fans make every excuse for this kid and pretend the elephant isn't sitting in the room with us -- Auston Matthews is a royal pita and greedy as all heck when it comes to negotiating his contracts.

Of course his deal is important and I didn’t say irregularly complex, just complex. You add irregularly. This isn’t excuse making. You are looking for problems that simply don’t exist.

Nathan MacKinnon, who you yourself brought up, didn’t sign until late September which obliterates your entire narrative. If this drum you’re beating were remotely true he’d have signed July 1. He didn’t. In fact, not a single one of the names you cited signed before September in their final year (with Pastrnak not signing until March and Hughes not until November). Tkachuk is the outlier signing July 22, which is still way later than July 5th currently, but Tkachuk had to come to terms at least reasonably quickly because he was forcing a sign and trade to the Panthers

The existence of a MacKinnon contract doesn’t necessarily simplify these negotiations that much. Every combination of player, agent, team and situation is unique

As I said before, Matthew not having signed 4 days into his final contract year is utterly meaningless regarding his demands and willingness to work with the team. There is nothing to read into it as most players don’t extend immediately.

Obviously from a team planning perspective the earlier, the better but that’s true for all teams signing big contracts and was not what we were talking about

 

[Dekes For Days]

And how wildly complex was it for Pastrnak, Hughes, MacKinnon, Tkachuk, and Stutzle to lock into 8-year deals last summer?

Tkachuk signed July 22nd.
Stutzle signed September 7th
Mackinnon signed September 20th.
Hughes signed November 30th.
Pastrnak signed March 2nd.

It is currently the morning of July 5th.
You just destroyed your own argument.

 

[13pacheco31]

Tkachuk signed July 22nd.
Stutzle signed September 7th
Mackinnon signed September 20th.
Hughes signed November 30th.
Pastrnak signed March 2nd.

It is currently the morning of July 5th.
You just destroyed your own argument.

Only makes sense, GM's are more focused on getting their roster and cap set up for the fall so getting a deal done right away isn't really a priority. Just based on what Dreger and servalli were saying a week ago, I get the impression that they have a general number agreed on in principle, they're probably just negotiating term, pay structure and ironing out the other minor details

 

[ACC1224]

These contracts are wildly complex yet on UFA day multiple players are signed within hours. Matthews has been a Leaf for seven years and both sides have known for a year they need to nail down a new contract. You act like this just fell from the sky.

And how wildly complex was it for Pastrnak, Hughes, MacKinnon, Tkachuk, and Stutzle to lock into 8-year deals last summer? The only reason this is complex is because Matthews wants every dollar possible and acts as if a hard cap doesn't exist. And him not being extended immediately means a lot, especially if it ends up being the reason we trade Nylander when things could have been worked out with Matthews up front.

Internally, Matthews is the measuring stick when it comes to player salaries. So getting him signed long-term (for an affordable cap hit) is a main priority, as is resetting the internal cap so the core can remain intact while better depth pieces are added.

If Matthews agrees to an 8-year deal @ 12.6 per, Nylander's deal will be based on that, not outside contracts. And if Matthews takes less then the pressure is 100% on Nylander (and eventually Marner) to do the same. But if he squeezes the Leafs for an overpayment the other players will take the same approach. This isn't rocket science here -- the Matthews deal is massively critical to the overall picture and any success the club has moving forward.

Last summer Nate MacKinnon signed an 8-year deal for 12.6 mil per. And that deal was signed while the team was spending their summer celebrating a Cup win. The blueprint for a Matthews deal is right there -- we're not reinventing the wheel. This is Auston Matthews, not a 23 year old Wayne freaking Gretzky here.

The Panthers trade for Tkachuk and within an hour a massive 8-year deal is announced. But a deal for Matthews is irregularly complex lol. It's quite baffling how some fans make every excuse for this kid and pretend the elephant isn't sitting in the room with us -- Auston Matthews is a royal pita and greedy as all heck when it comes to negotiating his contracts.

There is no rush.

 

[tuckerintensity]

Matthews did not put a gun to the head of the GM to sign the last Deal. The Leafs offered him that contract and he accepted it. What did you expect him to say..."sorry, that's a touch much for me, dial it back to $10M?" The fact is that the team had all the leverage for all the 3 young forward stars and they failed to use that to the team's advantage. Blame Dubas/Leafs. Don't blame Matthews.

Most of the rest of your post is pure conjecture.

Don't even blame the Leafs, he isn't overpaid. The notion is rather humorous.

 

[mjd1001]

Maybe this has been already asked, but I can't take the time to read through 167 pages of posts. If so, forgive me.

Last season Auston Matthews was a shadow of his former self. Not just his 60 goal season. He was a ghost in many games and played with a lack of intensity. His blocked shots were fantastic and his takeaways were too. But his competitive edge on offense looked significantly diminished. Also, his wrist shot was a shadow of its former self. I think I saw more turnaround slap shots from the blue line/high slot last year than I did his laser like wrister. When he did shoot a wrist shot it wasn't all that special. In the handshake line against either Tampa or Florida, I saw a picture of him with a brace on his wrist.

All of this to say, has an explanation been given for both his lack of intensity/ability to dominate a game and his wrist shot's loss of power? Was he injured? Was he playing through pain? What's up with his wrist?

These are important questions going forward with his contract negotiations.

I have no proof of this but I think he was playing with a pretty noticable "nagging" injury for most of the year. Again, like others who think the same thing, no proof but just a feeling supported by casual observation.

I expect a bounce back season from him providing he is healthy. Maybe not back to leading the entire league in goals by 5 or more....but he should rebound back into the top 5 in goals for sure.

 

[therealkoho]

One rumor had Matthews agreement in place, but waiting on Nylander to sign first so he can't use it as leverage.

"use it as leverage"

now there's a guy committed to winning!

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Matthews just finished 22nd in points and 14th in goals, and missed time YET AGAIN for his clearly deteriorating wrists.

Why on earth would ANYONE just assume for some reason the most recent sample is somehow the least likely to be repeated, so much so that somehow also justifies his setting the NHL record for salary by $, %, and every other metric?

It’s amazing how much no one is talking about the chance that this next contract may be the worst contract ever signed in the history of the league. We better pray last season was an absolute fluke.

When players have a career high year going into a contract negotiation, it massively increases their contract (see Kadri and countless other examples).

But when players have a career low year going into a contract negotiation, it.... just doesn't matter. We ignore it. We pretend it didn't happen. It doesn't affect the players contract one iota.

I dont' get it either...

 

[therealkoho]

People are being awfully hard on Matthews, a person who has literally not even once made his salary demands public. Most of what I read here is hearsay, conjecture, or just plain made up. If he signs a deal with the Maple Leafs it's because both sides think it's a fair deal. This includes Brad Treliving, who represents the organization. If Brad Treliving does not think that he can move the Leafs successfully forward with the cap hit that is being asked for, Matthews will be moved. The risk then, is that you could be decades before the Leafs ever have another player of Matthews' calibre. You can say he hasn't won cups, which is true. You can also say that for Tkachuk (finals don't count), Pastrnak, McDavid, Draisaitl. All of those are amazing players - no cups. The fact of the matter is that the Leafs probably have never had a player who is as good as Matthews - ever. If Matthews played in a 6 team league, he probably would have 3 cups by now. The fact is that in a 32 team league it is really, really difficult to win a Stanley Cup. All you can ask for is to assemble a group of players who can consistently help you knock on the door. Matthews is part of that equation. He will be signed.

This player is one of the best in the world, I have no doubt about that at all.

One of, but not 'the' best, he's not the player that McJeebuzz is, not the player Kucherov is, nor Ovi, it's possible that Sid and/or Geno might still give him a run. Yet he somehow feels he needs to be the highest paid player ever. While they aren't all champs they all find a different gear in the playoffs, their inner wolf comes to the fore, they take over the dressing room and drag their team mates along with them, and he doesnt seem to inspire his team-mates to elevate, to become that kind of rabid pack it takes to get to the top.

Being the highest paid player in the league? hmmm! While I agree it's a noble cause, but, and you may want to ask yourself too, shouldn't his stated goal be "leading his team" to a Stanley Cup final, and then winning it? Is 11.6m not enough motivation for this player, even to at the very least win a scoring title? It hasn't happened yet so why would anybody think another 2 or 3 million a season is going to do it?

Once a player leads his team and passes that cup to other hands, that's when you have a case for making the ridiculous money, until then you're just a guy who once won a Hart has a handful of team scoring records, who has never won a league scoring championship and hasn't led his team anywhere of any note, a kind of Taylor Hall character, if you will.

 

[therealkoho]

5 goals and 9 points in 6 games. Man, those Lightning dominated him.

2 of those goals were hail mary tips, a lot more luck then scoring prowess, the point is, that he couldn't rise above, he was smothered in games the Leafs should've won especially deciding games

look at his shooting distance numbers, or for that matter the teams shooting distance, was the team just following his lead shooting from farther out, which if we're being honest really means that they were not going into the paint

 

[Sypher04]

One rumor had Matthews agreement in place, but waiting on Nylander to sign first so he can't use it as leverage.

That makes zero sense. Auston Matthews deal isn’t going to depend on Nylander in any way.

This player is one of the best in the world, I have no doubt about that at all.

One of, but not 'the' best, he's not the player that McJeebuzz is, not the player Kucherov is, nor Ovi, it's possible that Sid and/or Geno might still give him a run. Yet he somehow feels he needs to be the highest paid player ever. While they aren't all champs they all find a different gear in the playoffs, their inner wolf comes to the fore, they take over the dressing room and drag their team mates along with them, and he doesnt seem to inspire his team-mates to elevate, to become that kind of rabid pack it takes to get to the top.

Being the highest paid player in the league? hmmm! While I agree it's a noble cause, but, and you may want to ask yourself too, shouldn't his stated goal be "leading his team" to a Stanley Cup final, and then winning it? Is 11.6m not enough motivation for this player, even to at the very least win a scoring title? It hasn't yet why would anybody think another 2 or 3 million a season is going to do it?

Once a player leads his team and passes that cup to other hands, that's when you have a case for making the ridiculous money, until then you're just a guy who once won a Hart has a handful of team scoring records, who has never won a league scoring championship and hasn't led his team anywhere of any note, a kind of Taylor Hall character, if you will.

Who says his goal isn’t exactly that. People saying being the highest paid player is important to him are not basing that on knowledge. They are projecting, plain and simple.

And no, while obviously the goal, winning Stanley cup isn’t a requirement to getting paid and it never has been.

 

[therealkoho]

That makes zero sense. Auston Matthews deal isn’t going to depend on Nylander in any way.



Who says his goal isn’t exactly that. People saying being the highest paid player is important to him are not basing that on knowledge. They are projecting, plain and simple.

And no, while obviously the goal, winning Stanley cup isn’t a requirement to getting paid and it never has been.

naive to a degree Sypher either that or you're trying to sell me last weeks doughnuts,

multiple media people closer to the Leafs and privy to info we never see, have all stated that this is what he wants, to be the highest paid ever!

Seravalli, Kypreos, Dreger, Johnston and Johnson have all said the same things and have all stated that 15m seems to be the ask.

as far as who gets paid and when, the majority of silly pay days come after winning SCs, see the Chicago Blackhawks, Kane &Toews got the twin contracts after the cup and not before, Sid who was going to sign a biggie no matter what, signed his first 8.7 after 2 SC finals.

 

[ACC1224]

That makes zero sense. Auston Matthews deal isn’t going to depend on Nylander in any way.

I believe the idea is that Nylander will use it as leverage not Matthews.

 

[kb]

naive to a degree Sypher either that or you're trying to sell me last weeks doughnuts,

multiple media people closer to the Leafs and privy to info we never see, have all stated that this is what he wants, to be the highest paid ever!

Seravalli, Kypreos, Dreger, Johnston and Johnson have all said the same things and have all stated that 15m seems to be the ask.

as far as who gets paid and when, the majority of silly pay days come after winning SCs, see the Chicago Blackhawks, Kane &Toews got the twin contracts after the cup and not before, Sid who was going to sign a biggie no matter what, signed his first 8.7 after 2 SC finals.

Ironically, I have only heard that he wants to stay, and to keep the AAV in the range so the team can build around him....not once have I seen that $15 million ask message.

 

[Dekes For Days]

When players have a career high year going into a contract negotiation, it massively increases their contract (see Kadri and countless other examples).

It's weird that you bring up Kadri, because Kadri is literally a counter to your argument. He got a lesser contract than somebody who consistently does what he did in his final year would get.

 

[MCR74]

You have articulated my concern and my question about his upcoming contract. I hope this season was a fluke, but I feel like no one is asking for an explanation for his performance this past season. There were far too many games where he wasn't noticeable. Is that because he was hurt, unmotivated, or some other reason? No one knows. On top of that it often looked like he was trying not to take a wrist shot. I hope that BT is confident that Matthews can find the fire and that his wrists can recover their former glory before he backs up the truck to the bank. Or y're right, this could be a disaster of a contract.

You nailed it.

 

[Gary Nylund]

You have articulated my concern and my question about his upcoming contract. I hope this season was a fluke, but I feel like no one is asking for an explanation for his performance this past season. There were far too many games where he wasn't noticeable. Is that because he was hurt, unmotivated, or some other reason? No one knows. On top of that it often looked like he was trying not to take a wrist shot. I hope that BT is confident that Matthews can find the fire and that his wrists can recover their former glory before he backs up the truck to the bank. Or y're right, this could be a disaster of a contract.

+1

 

[Peace Frog]

So it is rumoured that Matthews is willing to take a discount on his next contract. Funny thing is, it’s apparently going to be on a 3 or 4 year deal at about $13.5M.

I’m trying to understand how that is considered a discount! Nathan Mackinnon just signed an 8 year extension with the Avs at $12.6M per.

The only way $13.5M per for Matthews can be considered a discount, is if he signs for 8 years as well.

If he only signs for 3 or 4 years, then a discount is more like the same as he’s making right now! Am I wrong?

 

[Sypher04]

I believe the idea is that Nylander will use it as leverage not Matthews.

Oh I read can, not can’t. My bad