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

[Jmo89]

Texting with a friend of mine last night.. diehard Bruins fan, has always hated the Leafs, moved to Alberta years ago to work the oil, is outside the media noise, he's asking what the tone is down here. Gets around to asking if I think the coach will go, answered yes, my guess is he goes, narrative is always starting late in PO games and being unprepared... that anyone could coach them to 100 point seasons. The unedited response:

Sweet Jesus you crazy c***s you are now complaining about 100 point seasons... you stupid c***s they suck for the last 40 years before about a few years ago.. With in the next 3 years they will win the cup. I'm calling it.


I laughed...

Why do you like them so much? What have they done? 1 measly playoff series win in 7 years. Couldn’t care less about any of them. I hope we lose a couple of them actually. But go ahead, and build statues for one series win.

You can tell when people are almost more attached to the players than to the team. Maybe it's the social media generation, I dunno?

My suspicion is it has to do with @Squiffy post. Some fans are scared of the dark days post lockout. Very few decent prospects, no 1C/1G/1D. Looking for "free wallets"
, etc.

100-point regular seasons and failure in the playoffs is marginally better than finishing 10th, 11th, 12th, I guess. In the end though the only thing that matters is a cup and this group has managed only one series win toward achieving that goal.

At least some second round and conference finals losses would be acceptable for the experience gained, but going 1-7 in payoffs series is just not good enough, even if they were putting up 120 point seasons.

I think Leafs fans also buy way too much into the narrative about the Toronto market. It's the fans fault, or the media's fault, but apparently never the players fault. It's a bunch of BS. I'm sure it wasn't an easy market when Boston and Chicago had their cup droughts, or better yet, when they had their World Series droughts.

These guys are paid to win and this current iteration of the team has gotten everything they asked for. Even with Dubas' failures this group has been in a position to win pretty much every playoffs series except Washington and Florida. Even the Florida series was a bit odd as it was closer than a 4-1 series typically suggests. The guys who demanded top dollar have repeatedly let the fans down. The fans who fill the seats year after year have not let the players down.

 

[hockey20000]

No other team in the league would give him a 5 year 12.7M or whatever deal as a UFA or internal signing

Hes trying to play dubas/leafs management again

Tell this greedy f*** he gets 12M x 8 years or we deal him out

he's got some nerve asking for highest cap hit in league when he can't perform in the playoffs for you guys. he's gonna turn the fans on him sooner or later if not careful

 

[Sypher04]

Sure he will. What happens if he has another 2 or 3 60 goal seasons, tears it up in the playoffs AND wins a cup? He's going to get paid in retirement, but there's an entirely different scale if his legacy is that of a winner.




Scientists will investigate this comment for the purest hopium and copium that it contains. 13m wouldn't be putting the screws to us? Yeah, the highest paid player in the league should be the one who disappears when the games matter most lol. Mackinnon won a cup and McDavid is the best player in the league. Matthews won the Hart a year ago and scores a lot of goals, he's a superstar who deserves big money and there's no doubt about it, but the Toronto Maple Leafs should not be the professional organization where falling short of your expectations generate you a raise. He got $58m on his last contract, he does not need to be paid in advance for services that he has yet to deliver from his first deal.

All I see is a bunch of words that are mad he hasn’t played as well as we want in the playoffs (rightfully) but don’t really take into account how player salaries actually work in the nhl. Whether here or otherwise, Matthews will almost assuredly make more than either of those two, briefly anyway, unless he agrees to take a discount which nobody should expect to be the case

 

[Confucius]

Zero chance Matthews signs for anything less than 13.5M, I bet he’s looking for 14+ and he’ll probably get it. Either here or elsewhere because our genius GM set up his contract in a way that gives Matthews all the leverage.

Well may as well trade him now, he isn’t worth a penny more than he currently makes. He won’t get better so why pay more?

 

[TheScandal89]

I know its really unlikely, but I'd really like him to set the tone and take a extremely team friendly deal that says "I got my payday already, I want to win now" and sign 8 years at a 9.5 mil cap hit.

Will it happen? 99.9% chance no, but if he really wants to win he should. We paid him and Marner like they were winners and they didnt win anything, its time they take a discount imo. Obviously 9.5 is a pipe dream but it would do wonders to not have guys over 10.

 

[Menzinger]

There's no use working ourselves into a tizzy/getting mad at the player over numbers pulled out of thin air.

Nothing concrete has been reported yet, not even rumors, just outright speculation (which isn't fact)

 

[Sypher04]

he's got some nerve asking for highest cap hit in league when he can't perform in the playoffs for you guys. he's gonna turn the fans on him sooner or later if not careful

To be clear, Matthews hasn’t asked for specifically anything that we know about. The chatter about highest cap on a mid term is clear Friedman speculation

That all said. It’s his market value so seems about right

 

[Moonman]

I can't see a world where Auston takes less. He's just not that kind of guy I don't think.

 

[Mess]

Mac won the Cup and signed for 8 years at $12.6 mil.

Leaf Nation is going to be so surprised when Matthews offers Leafs 3-4 years between $14-15 mil and the Leafs organization goes all IN again. IMO

He wants to hit UFA status again around age 30ish, and be able to sign one more big deal thereafter, and will use the now potential rising cap in the future to sell the shorter term deal to the Leafs organization if they want him to stay.

 

[Gabriel426]

I know its really unlikely, but I'd really like him to set the tone and take a extremely team friendly deal that says "I got my payday already, I want to win now" and sign 8 years at a 9.5 mil cap hit.

Will it happen? 99.9% chance no, but if he really wants to win he should. We paid him and Marner like they were winners and they didnt win anything, its time they take a discount imo. Obviously 9.5 is a pipe dream but it would do wonders to not have guys over 10.

Pretty sure AM’s camp knows Leafs will sign him around the current McD’s numbers. That’s the baseline. All these stuff about a shorter deal at 14m…are just numbers being thrown out so when the deal finally happen, the public is prepare and think AM did Leafs a favor by signing for 8yrs at 13mil, and spin it as cap %lower than Mack….
I just can’t see AM’s camp asking for anything over Mack’s contract at this point. AM is really not as marketable as Kane back in the days bc AM won nothing in playoffs.
AM’s Camp can’t even use the Jerry Maguire’s quote, nobody said winning was cheap, as AM won nothing for the Leafs.

 

[Menzinger]

Why would you want to pay more to lock him up from his early to mid 30s? If anything id flip your numbers and pay more for the 5 years

From the teams pov it's absolutely true The next 4-5 years are ultimately going to be the most valuable by a fair margin than 6-8 years when Matthews is entering his early to mid 30s.

Quite frankly 4--6 years really is the ideal length from a team pov. 3 is too short and only extends 1 year beyond the Tavares contract. 7-8 probably too long given risk of physical decline. 4-6 really is the sweet spot

 

[Menzinger]

Mac won the Cup and signed for 8 years at $12.6 mil.

Leaf Nation is going to be so surprised when Matthews offers Leafs 3-4 years between $14-15 mil and the Leafs organization goes all IN again. IMO

He wants to hit UFA status again around age 30ish, and be able to sign one more big deal thereafter, and will use the now potential rising cap in the future to sell the shorter term deal to the Leafs organization if they want him to stay.

MacKinnon's contract involves the team having to pay 34 and 35 year old versions of him 12+ million.

It's a nice reward from the team for helping to win the cup, but isn't exactly going to help the team be competitive over the back half of that contract.

The suggestion that Matthews is going to get 15 mil isn't backed up by any contract comparisons

 

[Kaladin]

MacKinnon's contract involves the team having to pay 34 and 35 year old versions of him 12+ million.

It's a nice reward from the team for helping to win the cup, but isn't exactly going to help the team be competitive over the back half of that contract.

The suggestion that Matthews is going to get 15 mil isn't backed up by any contract comparisons

Matthews is going to get 14-15M and it's backed up by how much he got in his last contract negotiations at a time when he had no leverage. Top 3 highest paid in the league with no leverage. This time? He has all the leverage. He's going to get whatever he wants and if past history is any indication he will want as close to the max as possible.

 

[Superstar]

Matthews is going to get 14-15M and it's backed up by how much he got in his last contract negotiations at a time when he had no leverage. Top 3 highest paid in the league with no leverage. This time? He has all the leverage. He's going to get whatever he wants and if past history is any indication he will want as close to the max as possible.

I think Matthews is getting $13 million tops...what the pandemic has taught many GMs is you can't go crazy and borrow money from the future because you think the cap is going to keep going up...he should be paid according to his comparables, like MacKinnon...it's not like $13 million is chump change.

 

[Mess]

MacKinnon's contract involves the team having to pay 34 and 35 year old versions of him 12+ million.

It's a nice reward from the team for helping to win the cup, but isn't exactly going to help the team be competitive over the back half of that contract.

The suggestion that Matthews is going to get 15 mil isn't backed up by any contract comparisons

Matthews last contract on 5 years term at the 4th highest Cap hit% based on these 3 ELC years was unprecedented.

Is there a NHL comparable contract that supports $11.634 mil and 14.6 CH% (4th highest) and only 5 years (including 4 RFA years) on his previous deal?

Its easy to pick out the anomaly here, so what makes people so certain after taking the Leafs organization to task on his last deal, particularly to set up this next contract at an even higher AAV, that history is not going to repeat?.

If people believe that Matthews is just going to take a slight bump up to $12.6 mil (MacKinnon new rate) then why not just factor that into his last deal if its just +$1 mil per year ($3 mil total) more AAV for the next 3 years and signed a 8 year term originally? If you spread that $3 mil over 8 years that = + $375k more AVV per year above his current $11.634 mil.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Matthews last contract on 5 years term at the 4th highest Cap hit% based on these 3 ELC years was unprecedented.

View attachment 709719

Is there a NHL comparable contract that supports $11.634 mil and 14.6 CH% (4th highest) and only 5 years (including 4 RFA years) on his previous deal?

View attachment 709721

Its easy to pick out the anomaly here, so what makes people so certain after taking the Leafs organization to task on his last deal, particularly to set up this next contract at an even higher AAV?.

Malkin is one actually I believe from a quick look

 

[Sypher04]

Matthews last contract on 5 years term at the 4th highest Cap hit% based on these 3 ELC years was unprecedented.

View attachment 709719

Is there a NHL comparable contract that supports $11.634 mil and 14.6 CH% (4th highest) and only 5 years (including 4 RFA years) on his previous deal?

View attachment 709721

Its easy to pick out the anomaly here, so what makes people so certain after taking the Leafs organization to task on his last deal, particularly to set up this next contract at an even higher AAV?.

A few issues here but I’m just going to focus on the last statement. If that was his goal we wouldn’t know he wanted to go 8 years last time around, and yet we do

 

[therealkoho]

It is what it is .. Leafs are not letting their 1OA pick go unless they get a boatload back .. #1C's are limited maybe 5-10 in league

The cap needs to be brought under control, from what it sounds like Matthews and his agent don't seem to think it's up to them to help with that problem.

All the Dubas fans basically said this situation wouldn't happen. Can you imagine that haha

The only thing i expect to hear in the near term is an agreement has been reached and Matthews will be extended come July 1St.

The Leafs have already spent a fortune on Mr Matthews services with very little in returnreturn. I have no idea why anybody would think that it'll be different this time around, especially with less firepower and less depth because of fund allocation.

Think of the butterfly effect the new contract is going to be a part of.

Look at it this way, it's JT, Mitch and Will plus supporting cast going forward

or it's JT and Matthews and supporting cast

 

[Gallagbi]

Malkin is one actually I believe from a quick look

Its a discussion thats been had a million times. You'll get a bunch of early "new NHL" signings, then the league floated away from 5 year deals to bridges or max term contracts. They also had some years with no players close to Matthews level over the first year or two of their deals.

Kovalchuk, Malkin, Crosby, Nash are some names usually floated out there. Kane/Toews were a little lower % wise

Oddly enough, i think all took a ballpark similar cap% on their next deal and most were 8 years.

 

[therealkoho]

I think Matthews is getting $13 million tops...what the pandemic has taught many GMs is you can't go crazy and borrow money from the future because you think the cap is going to keep going up...he should be paid according to his comparables, like MacKinnon...it's not like $13 million is chump change.

Sure ok and no I wholeheartedly agree it's not chump change!

BUT

What if Mr Matthews doesn't care what GMs may or may not have learned, or what his comparables may make. The only numbers Mr Matthews seems to care about, we only have history to inform us, is "the biggest one that's not just possible, but available to him."

Cheers enjoy the CF'S

 

[Legion34]

Matthews last contract on 5 years term at the 4th highest Cap hit% based on these 3 ELC years was unprecedented.

View attachment 709719

Is there a NHL comparable contract that supports $11.634 mil and 14.6 CH% (4th highest) and only 5 years (including 4 RFA years) on his previous deal?

View attachment 709721

Its easy to pick out the anomaly here, so what makes people so certain after taking the Leafs organization to task on his last deal, particularly to set up this next contract at an even higher AAV?.

This is incorrect. Matthews taking 14% on 5 years was entirely predictable and in line with other 5 year contracts. With similar and worse production.

There were multiple comparables.

Matthews was top 2 in ELC goals raw and per game and top 10’in points raw and per game since the lockout.

You are just wrong

 

[Superstar]

Sure ok and no I wholeheartedly agree it's not chump change!

BUT

What if Mr Matthews doesn't care what GMs may or may not have learned, or what his comparables may make. The only numbers Mr Matthews seems to care about, we only have history to inform us, is "the biggest one that's possible for him."

Cheers enjoy the CF'S

At that point, it's clear he doesn't care about winning the Cup anymore, so it's time to trade him.

You too.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Its a discussion thats been had a million times. You'll get a bunch of early "new NHL" signings, then the league floated away from 5 year deals to bridges or max term contracts. They also had some years with no players close to Matthews level over the first year or two of their deals.

Kovalchuk, Malkin, Crosby, Nash are some names usually floated out there. Kane/Toews were a little lower % wise

Oddly enough, i think all took a ballpark similar cap% on their next deal and most were 8 years.

From the team side, I think most of them would have preferred 5 years instead of 8. Chicago was visibly done as a contender 4+ years ago, they could have gotten a haul for a 104 point Kane and still serviceable Towes retained 50% on expiring deals.

If we still haven’t won with Matthews in 5 years, do people expect us to in year 6-8?

 

[Gabriel426]

Last contract, I believe that if AM hits RFA, there will be teams that offers him more close to McD's numbers with OS.
This time around, unless AM did what McD and Drai did in the last two playoffs and lead the Leafs to ECF or actually showed up in the 2nd round while maintaining around 50G and 100pts. Thats the only way he will get more than Mack's contract.
BC he is no longer the great American Hope that he once was. Eichel, if he wins the Cup this year, is the Great American Player. The hope is Jack Hughes.
Not saying teams that sign him won't see a surge in jersey sales and buzz around the team but he is not worth more than Mack and won't ever come close to McD, esp since Pastra signed 11.5 or so just a few months back.

 

[PromisedLand]

I'll believe this when he has signed for 12 AAV for 8 years.

until then its nothing but lip service.

Tavares' backstabbing of the Isles wasn't that long ago btw