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

[therealkoho]

Power, a 1st and more better be coming back. Doubt they want Matty in Buffalo though.

He was reasonable before, & accepted a little less so that the Leafs could use money elsewhere. No reason to think he wouldn't do the same again.

Yeah I can't see the Slugs getting back into having a prima dona to deal with, Eichel left a pretty bad taste I would think.

@HoweHullOrr
Reasonable??? Did I miss the sarcasm emoji?

 

[HoweHullOrr]

@HoweHullOrr
Reasonable??? Did I miss the sarcasm emoji?

Yes, I might have forgotten to include an emoji, or perhaps just felt it wouldn't be necessary.

Matthews strikes me as a person who is all about the money. Could be a common trait among the fab four.

 

[Legion34]

Also…. I don’t buy this…..if he were to sign somewhere as a ufa you think he needs months to see the team and the GM?

Makes no sense. The team needs to hire a gm….. talk to him about what he wants and he decides.

It doesn’t take a month even if he signed here for 5 there is no guarantee his gm stays the same.

He said he wanted to sign asap even though he knew things were up in the air. So I doubt it’s change

But IF it has.. you have to trade him.

 

[Pinkcat]

If got news for you.... The Leafs Titanic hit the iceberg long ago, when they named Dubas as GM, and then he signed JT to $11 mil and put they Leafs into Cap Hell and non Cup competitiveness and the team been taking on water ever since and sinking.

Matthews and Marner have $11 mil contracts because JT got one and Leafs invested 1/2 their cap into only 4 forwards. The team has been shuffling deck chairs (depth players on cheap contracts) on a sinking ship trying to keep it a float ever since.

The Captain Dubas has already gone done with the ship, and has his firstmate Spezza alongside.

Were entering the life boat phase as to who will be salvaged and saved moving forward, and who will be tossed overboard into icy waters next.

Dubas probably did a lot of good things but was very reactionary for the most part due to an intransigent position regarding the coach and the core. The Jared McCann situation is a case in point. Takes advantage of Pittsburgh's situation to trade for McCann and then gifts him to Seattle because we have to play Justin Holl too far up the line-up because we don't have the cap for an appropriate top 4 defenceman. If they realized that signing McCann wouldn't work because of the current cap there was no thought to keeping the better player and correcting the cap, it was sacrifice the player to keep the core 4 vision alive.
Keefe is a good coach but once the play-offs start he is always second best to whichever coach is on the other team.

 

[notbias]

Yes, I might have forgotten to include an emoji, or perhaps just felt it wouldn't be necessary.

Matthews strikes me as a person who is all about the money. Could be a common trait among the fab four.

Tavares took less money to come to Toronto..........................

Not sure about the other three, but no clue how you could say that about him.

I believe he took 14 million less over his contract (or at least it was reported).

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Would we be ok with the same deal as MacKinnon? Basically takes him through his whole prime. Maybe Matthews doesn't go for that and wants another 5 year deal to cash in again at the end.

Interesting offseason ahead.

No, that's too much. I'd feel like he should paid more around the Mathew Tkachuk level although Tkachuk is a much better playoff performer. That would leave some money to build a team and fill other needs as well which are keys to have a winning "team". Won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen though with the fab four.

 

[ToneDog]

Yeah I can't see the Slugs getting back into having a prima dona to deal with, Eichel left a pretty bad taste I would think.

@HoweHullOrr
Reasonable??? Did I miss the sarcasm emoji?

Excellent point. If I am Buffalo I keep building. Dahlin and Power on the backend. I'm jealous.

No, that's too much. I'd feel like he should paid more around the Mathew Tkachuk level although Tkachuk is a much better playoff performer. That would leave some money to build a team and fill other needs as well which are keys to have a winning "team". Won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen though with the fab four.

Leaf would take the MacKinnon deal in a heartbeat for Matty IMO. He's getting at least that and probably for less term.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Tavares took less money to come to Toronto..........................

Not sure about the other three, but no clue how you could say that about him.

I believe he took 14 million less over his contract (or at least it was reported).

Ya, the "less money" line is a red herring that make some feel good. It was a bad signing as there were other more pressing needs at the time.

It certainly created a leadership precedent for the other fab four to go for $s.

The current outcome was predictable here although many of the faithful didn't want to read the writing that was on the wall.

 

[Stephen]

Dubas probably did a lot of good things but was very reactionary for the most part due to an intransigent position regarding the coach and the core. The Jared McCann situation is a case in point. Takes advantage of Pittsburgh's situation to trade for McCann and then gifts him to Seattle because we have to play Justin Holl too far up the line-up because we don't have the cap for an appropriate top 4 defenceman. If they realized that signing McCann wouldn't work because of the current cap there was no thought to keeping the better player and correcting the cap, it was sacrifice the player to keep the core 4 vision alive.
Keefe is a good coach but once the play-offs start he is always second best to whichever coach is on the other team.

Kyle Dubas is a smart guy and a lot of his transactions over the years would be the equivalent of the open ice toe drag, flashy, for effect, world gasping talent that his players are known for, as opposed to making a simple concise upgrade.

McCann was brilliant but useless, Murray was high risk no reward for example.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Excellent point. If I am Buffalo I keep building. Dahlin and Power on the backend. I'm jealous.


Leaf would take the MacKinnon deal in a heartbeat for Matty IMO. He's getting at least that and probably for less term.

Ya, I wouldn't doubt that unfortunately, but it's going to be hard building a team around a fab four soaking up $50 m or whatever it is if that's what happens. We seem to like making the same mistakes over and over.

 

[Legion34]

Tavares took less money to come to Toronto..........................

Not sure about the other three, but no clue how you could say that about him.

I believe he took 14 million less over his contract (or at least it was reported).

Exactly. The same people who cry that players didn’t take less than their subjective worth complain about the one player who objectively and indisputably turned down 14 million dollars

This fanbase is a joke. I don’t blame the players for wanting every penny. The fans will turn on you anyway

 

[Superstar]

Excellent point. If I am Buffalo I keep building. Dahlin and Power on the backend. I'm jealous.

And Tage Thompson is a monster...you'd think we could trade Marner for him?

 

[ToneDog]

Ya, I wouldn't doubt that unfortunately, but it's going to be hard building a team around a fab four soaking up $50 m or whatever it is if that's what happens. We seem to like making the same mistakes over and over.

They have Tage and Cozens locked up at a good number. As long as they do have Dubas negotiating Power and Dahlin's next contracts, they should be fine. If Levi is the real deal, they should make the playoffs next year.

 

[notbias]

Excellent point. If I am Buffalo I keep building. Dahlin and Power on the backend. I'm jealous.

Being jealous of a team that has missed the playoffs for 12 straight years is weird.

Ya, the "less money" line is a red herring that make some feel good. It was a bad signing as there were other more pressing needs at the time.

It certainly created a leadership precedent for the other fab four to go for $s.

The current outcome was predictable here although many of the faithful didn't want to read the writing that was on the wall.

Sure, change the argument because the facts don't fit your narrative.

It can be a bad signing and he took less.

You just don't need to include him in the "fab 4" that are all about the money.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Dubas probably did a lot of good things but was very reactionary for the most part due to an intransigent position regarding the coach and the core. The Jared McCann situation is a case in point. Takes advantage of Pittsburgh's situation to trade for McCann and then gifts him to Seattle because we have to play Justin Holl too far up the line-up because we don't have the cap for an appropriate top 4 defenceman. If they realized that signing McCann wouldn't work because of the current cap there was no thought to keeping the better player and correcting the cap, it was sacrifice the player to keep the core 4 vision alive.
Keefe is a good coach but once the play-offs start he is always second best to whichever coach is on the other team.

It seems as though former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is extremely close with Seattle Krakens GM Ron Francis.

Dubas has known Francis for his whole life.

Did Kyle Dubas decide to return the favour to Ron Francis by deciding to protect Justin Holl and exposing Alex Kerfoot and Jared McCann instead to the Seattle Krakens in the expansion draft?

Dubas: 'I was scared shitless' at 1st GM meeting

The role of general manager didn't always come naturally to Kyle Dubas.The Toronto Maple Leafs executive admitted he was frightened when team president Brendan Shanahan first asked him to represent the club at a meeting of Dubas' contemporaries in June 2015."I was scared shitless when I walked...

www.thescore.com

Dubas: 'I was scared shitless' at 1st GM meeting

Josh Gold-Smith

3yr ago

The role of general manager didn't always come naturally to Kyle Dubas.

The Toronto Maple Leafs executive admitted he was frightened when team president Brendan Shanahan first asked him to represent the club at a meeting of Dubas' contemporaries in June 2015.

"I was scared shitless when I walked into Vegas," Dubas said Friday. "That was one of the most nervous times I've ever had in my life."

The Maple Leafs GM added, "I've known (then-Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron) Francis my whole life, so he was, like, the only person I felt I could talk to. I just went in, sat in my chair, and took notes at the meeting, and got up and left. But I was nervous as anything."

Shanahan tabbed Dubas and Mark Hunter as co-interim GMs following the firing of Dave Nonis and before the hiring of Lou Lamoriello, the latter of which came in July 2015.

"I really didn't feel like I belonged in (the meeting)," Dubas said. "I'd only been in the league for one year, and we were still a month away from having Lou hired. So, I just went in there, took my notes, and got on the plane."

 

[HoweHullOrr]

They have Tage and Cozens locked up at a good number. As long as they do have Dubas negotiating Power and Dahlin's next contracts, they should be fine. If Levi is the real deal, they should make the playoffs next year.

Ya, Buffalo are a team on the rise. Like you say they have talent and a good nucleus signed to much better contracts.

Maybe we were talking about different subjects? You were talking about Buffalo and what they might do (acquire Matthews) whereas I was looking at from what the Leafs might do i.e., re-sign Matthews. At least, I'm getting that impression.

 

[Yall are crazy]

Marner's NMC kicking in on the 2nd last year of his contract is especially a puzzling one.

How in anyway is it a good idea to line up your best players' NMC directly beside eachother when one of them is in their last year?

These contractual time bombs - I swear to god it was all by design by Dubie, and orchestrated by that Wasserman media group that BOTH Matthews and Dubas work for. That slimy ass agency has been trying to get every dollar out of Toronto for awhile now.

It was karma

 

[ToneDog]

Exactly. The same people who cry that players didn’t take less than their subjective worth complain about the one player who objectively and indisputably turned down 14 million dollars

This fanbase is a joke. I don’t blame the players for wanting every penny. The fans will turn on you anyway

Sure take every penny but understand that that comes with expectation. Rielly shut up every fan that bitched about his contract with his playoff performance.

 

[notbias]

They have Tage and Cozens locked up at a good number. As long as they do have Dubas negotiating Power and Dahlin's next contracts, they should be fine. If Levi is the real deal, they should make the playoffs next year.

Sounds like a lot of ifs.

The team misses the playoffs for 12 years and you are excited about their future?

Most of their core has been there for a good number of years too.

They are the Oilers of the 2010's, a bunch of first round picks doing nothing.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Being jealous of a team that has missed the playoffs for 12 straight years is weird.



Sure, change the argument because the facts don't fit your narrative.

It can be a bad signing and he took less.

You just don't need to include him in the "fab 4" that are all about the money.

Yes, I didn't like the moves Toronto made but it wasn't changing any narrative, as there is no narrative. Some people (like you) just don't like to face the reality. Let's see if Auston takes a "team friendly" deal the 2nd time again then.

 

[therealkoho]

MLSE are absolute morons. Auston Matthews is worth hundreds of millions to a franchises value. He has a chance to go down as the best goal scorer ever. And they've screwed up our relationship with him by canning the GM over petty reasons.

If the 100s of millions thing is true, the trade then becomes obvious, and off to the Coyotes he should go. They need a marquee player now that Keller has said he's not going back, this becomes easy

Matthews + Nylander + Brodie

Keller + Crouse + Ottawa 1st 2023 + Coyote 2nd 2023 + Capitals 3rd 2023 + Canadiens 2nd 2024 + Coyotes 2nd + 3rd 2025 + OEL dead cap 990k 23, 24, 25, 26

 

[Legion34]

Sure take every penny but understand that that comes with expectation. Rielly shut up every fan that bitched about his contract with his playoff performance.

And players who didn’t…. Like Tavares…. Do they get a pass?


Take rielly for example…. Every Half decent defense took 9.5…. Nurse. Werenski. Jones.

He took 2 less.

Why weren’t fans easy on hjm

 

[Mess]

Dubas probably did a lot of good things but was very reactionary for the most part due to an intransigent position regarding the coach and the core. The Jared McCann situation is a case in point. Takes advantage of Pittsburgh's situation to trade for McCann and then gifts him to Seattle because we have to play Justin Holl too far up the line-up because we don't have the cap for an appropriate top 4 defenceman. If they realized that signing McCann wouldn't work because of the current cap there was no thought to keeping the better player and correcting the cap, it was sacrifice the player to keep the core 4 vision alive.

Agreed I've made this same point earlier using the $11 mil JT contract as the landmine that started it all.

Who would it be better for the Leafs to have now?

Keeping and resigning Zack Hyman for $5.5 mil

&
Jared McCann for $5 mil

or John Tavares @$11 mil

Keeping the core 4 together would be so much better served if the Leafs could get rid of an $11 mil AAV and bring in 2 X players making 5-6 mil each and get double the production.

Quality depth at productive rates is much better bang for your salary cap buck. Leafs are paying JT $11 mil for 36 goals because they couldn't afford to keep Zach Hyman who also scored 36 goals but for 1/2 the cap cost & McCann who scored 40 goals for just $5 mil AAV.

Now Nylander coming off a 40 goal season also already makes +$2 mil more than McCann, and his same 40 goals but for $5 mil not $7 mil AAV. So what now resign Nylander for +$9 mil to keep the core 4 together at + $4 mil more than McCann would've cost?

 

[ToneDog]

And players who didn’t…. Like Tavares…. Do they get a pass?


Take rielly for example…. Every Half decent defense took 9.5…. Nurse. Werenski. Jones.

He took 2 less.

Why weren’t fans easy on hjm

Agreed but I do not think the majority of Leaf nation is as hard on the players as we see from some of the posters on this board. I mean there is one poster who is on Tavares 24x7. Personally, I give him a pass because he came home. As big as Leaf nation is, there are going to be those that do not.

 

[notbias]

If the 100s of millions thing is true, the trade then becomes obvious, and off to the Coyotes he should go. They need a marquee player now that Keller has said he's not going back, this becomes easy

Matthews + Nylander + Brodie

Keller + Crouse + Ottawa 1st 2023 + Coyote 2nd 2023 + Capitals 3rd 2023 + Canadiens 2nd 2024 + Coyotes 2nd + 3rd 2025 + OEL dead cap 990k 23, 24, 25, 26

we are rebuilding now?

Also, he is not worth the same to Arizona as he is to us.

Agreed I've made this same point earlier using the $11 mil JT contract as the landmine that started it all.

Who would it be better for the Leafs to have now?

Keeping and resigning Zack Hyman for $5.5 mil

View attachment 711147
&
Jared McCann for $5 mil

View attachment 711148

or John Tavares @$11 mil

View attachment 711150

Keeping the core 4 together would be so much better served if the Leafs could get rid of an $11 mil AAV and bring in 2 X players making 5-6 mil each and get double the production.

Quality depth at productive rates is much better bang for your salary cap buck. Leafs are paying JT $11 mil for 36 goals because they couldn't afford to keep Zach Hyman who also scored 36 goals but for 1/2 the cap cost & McCann who scored 40 goals for just $5 mil AAV.

Now Nylander coming off a 40 goal season also already makes +$2 mil more than McCann, and his same 40 goals but for $5 mil not $7 mil AAV. So what now resign Nylander for +$9 mil to keep the core 4 together at + $4 mil more than McCann would cost?

McCann's playoff stats and Hyman's?

Weird you left those out, I wonder why...