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

[Mess]

Like, what is wrong with you? What is it you hope to get from any player coming in to replace an Auston Matthews?

I'm not advocating that Matthews be dealt in fact of the core 4 he would be the last one I would want to see moved.

However if his Salary requests is too high that it would hurt team competitiveness and/or with his NMC in last year he is prepared to wak away for free then those would be 2 reasons in the best interest of the Team I would support recapturing assets to continue on. You know the saying "there is no I in Team".

 

[Ulysses31]

15x8 for matthews, yes or no?

 

[Leaf Fans]

15x8 for matthews, yes or no?

Deal! What is the return!

 

[rumman]

Does that mean he follows where Dubas goes? I don't think I've ever seen a player go where a GM goes as a motivating factor.

New Leafs GM has to come in and first thing they do is ask Matthews straight up if he wants to be here. He has to prove wanting to be here by committing to sign here before July 1st and then getting that done ASAP.

Any indecisiveness from Matthews and you have to trade him this summer.

This is exactly what must happen, no team can afford to lose a 34 for nothing. Full stop……..

 

[Menzinger]

Sure but players come and go all the time but the crest remains forever over the decades.

My favourite Leaf Wendel Clark got traded for Mats Sundin in fact and that deal was made to attempt more team success. Wendel and Dougie had a pair of final 4 appearances in the 1990's as did Sundin Era after that when they were gone.

You're kind of moving the goal posts of the origianl discussion as it wasn't about having and keeping star players at any cost .. Keseel as a player was never the issue it was the result, In fact Kessel had just signed a new 8 year by $8 mil deal and then after only 1 season Shanahan came in and they immediately moved him out with 7 years remaining on his deal.. That began the new era of drafting Nylander, then Marner then Matthews in 3 straight drafts and its those players you're cheering now and not regretting the loss of Kessel to make it happen. If the Leafs had hung onto the unsuccessful Kessel and Phaneuf etc because they were star players fun to watch then we would have remained unsuccessful and not able to have the 3 amigo's today.

We were just discussing Matthews (kept at any price) as an example, but I suspect you don't want Marner nor Nylander dealt either for the very same reason. However unless you do consider the cap consequences attached to keeping them all moving forward simply because their star players fun to watch then Leafs will become less Cup competitive if when re-signed they eat even more cap % than today.

With a new GM coming in and the Core 4 not finding playoff success its more than likely one of the core 4 might be dealt in an effort to become more Cup competitive or maybe even for cap reasons also.

Its all good because there are no rules to being a fan, and some cheer for players they like, and others cheer in hopes of Cup success and the individual players that achieve that goal a secondary concern.

My earlier point wasnt that keeping Matthews at any cost was a good thing, rather it's what I expect to happen.

Losing him now would make Shanahan look dumb, and I don't think ownership will be fine with the face of the franchise leaving.

As a result, I suspect many people here will be unhappy with his caphit.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I’d like AM and WN back
Time for a change with Mitch, Kerfoot, Bunting, Brodie

 

[The Apologist]

I'm not advocating that Matthews be dealt in fact of the core 4 he would be the last one I would want to see moved.

However if his Salary requests is too high that it would hurt team competitiveness and/or with his NMC in last year he is prepared to wak away for free then those would be 2 reasons in the best interest of the Team I would support recapturing assets to continue on. You know the saying "there is no I in Team".

But what's too high?

My expectation is Matthews will come in around 5 years at 12.8 per. Makes him the highest paid player in the NHL and shorter term. Do you sign that if thats the demand?

 

[Sypher04]

As a result, I suspect many people here will be unhappy with his caphit.

A lot of people here don’t seem to understand how to compare cap hits across different signing years, so I suspect that this will be very true

 

[BallardEra]

But what's too high?

My expectation is Matthews will come in around 5 years at 12.8 per. Makes him the highest paid player in the NHL and shorter term. Do you sign that if thats the demand?

I think he comes in at $13-13.4.

 

[ToneDog]

15x8 for matthews, yes or no?

MacKinnon won a cup and signed for 12.6x8 a year ago. Why would Matty command that kind of money and why would a GM agree. Matty will sign for 5 years in order to set himself up for his next contract. I can see 13x5 but it is the Leafs so it could be higher.

 

[hockeywiz542]

The Maple Leafs’ 10 biggest priorities for the next GM: Auston Matthews’ extension, star trade, coach, more

The next Maple Leafs GM — whoever that may be — has a lot to do and almost no time to do it.

theathletic.com

3. Extend Auston Matthews

This one is pretty simple: Get Matthews locked up beyond the coming season. Will Matthews be willing to commit to a GM he just met? A GM who has yet to demonstrate whether he’s got the chops to lead the Leafs in the right direction?

Maybe not. It’s one of the risks (a big one at that!) Shanahan took in walking away from Dubas, who was known, liked, and well respected by Matthews.

Matthews will inevitably claim largest-cap-hit-in-the-league status on his next deal from Nathan MacKinnon, who will take over the top spot from Connor McDavid later this fall ($12.6 million).

How big will that cap number be? And how long can the Leafs get Matthews to commit? His last deal came with an $11.6 million cap hit (which ranked second in the league when it was signed) and lasted only five years.

Will this next one be for five? Three? Two? Is the full eight years even a possibility?

It’s worth keeping in mind that the cap is expected to rise considerably when Matthews’ next deal takes effect.

Here’s a big question: What does the next Leafs GM do if Matthews decides not to sign right away on July 1? What if he wants to see how the year plays out? The Leafs would almost be forced into doing just that. Trade Matthews and well, good luck.

 

[Sypher04]

MacKinnon won a cup and signed for 12.6x8 a year ago. Why would Matty command that kind of money and why would a GM agree. Matty will sign for 5 years in order to set himself up for his next contract. I can see 13x5 but it is the Leafs so it could be higher.

8 year deal, all in your thirties, that’s not going to be as lucrative as people seem to think. Makes a lot more sense for the player to want 8 years now imo. That said, if Matthews does in fact only want 5 or 6 years again this time around, that actually works out well for us, so I’m happy with that.

People need to stop citing MacKinnon’s cup like it’s overly meaningful to what he got paid. Player salaries have always been driven my regular season, individual accomplishments, not team trophies. MacKinnon would have made what he made, cup or no cup, because he’s one of the very best players in the league, like Auston.

I agree though, Matthews is not getting 15M, nor do I expect that’d be his ask

 

[ToneDog]

8 year deal, all in your thirties, that’s not going to be as lucrative as people seem to think. Makes a lot more sense for the player to want 8 years now imo. That said, if Matthews does in fact only want 5 or 6 years again this time around, that actually works out well for us, so I’m happy with that.

People need to stop citing MacKinnon’s cup like it’s overly meaningful to what he got paid. Player salaries have always been driven my regular season, individual accomplishments, not team trophies. MacKinnon would have made what he made, cup or no cup, because he’s one of the very best players in the league, like Auston.

I think owners will be a lot more generous after winning a cup than not. It may not make much of a difference in the big picture but it does factor in IMO.

Just had a look at MacKinnon's numbers. Until this year, never hit 100 points. Does not scream highest paid player in the league, but look at those playoff numbers.

 

[TheDoldrums]

 

[Leafidelity]

 

[notbias]

Everyone here has assured me Dubas was the problem, Shanny is the best, and everything is fine.

These Tweets are clearly a lie.

 

[Rare Jewel]

15x8 for matthews, yes or no?

No for me.

That's too much.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Everyone here has assured me Dubas was the problem, Shanny is the best, and everything is fine.

These Tweets are clearly a lie.

While Shanahan merits some come criticism, these tweets strike me as quite one-sided.

Also, the issue isn't what he said, it's more to do with the timing. They both have said things you could describe as "airing the laundry".

 

[notbias]

While Shanahan merits some come criticism, these tweets strike me as quite one-sided.

Also, the issue isn't what he said, it's more to do with the timing. They both have said things you could describe as "airing the laundry".

This is another GM who fits the description of what we want in a new GM saying this apparently. So it is the opinion of at least one GM, probably more.

 

[sunstersun]

Watched this to keep my sanity lol.

But what's too high?

My expectation is Matthews will come in around 5 years at 12.8 per. Makes him the highest paid player in the NHL and shorter term. Do you sign that if thats the demand?

Yes, that would be a great deal.

 

[Menzinger]

As a fan of the team it was pretty interesting to get fairly blatant insight into how Shanny approached things.

That said, I'm a bit surprised at how many people here think the way this played out won't have any consequences for what happens next.

 

[Rare Jewel]

This is another GM who fits the description of what we want in a new GM saying this apparently. So it is the opinion of at least one GM, probably more.

Well, that's fine. They should focus on their own team though. It's a little unrealistic for the president not to talk about his team after he's let the GM go.

Without knowing who it is as well, I sort of doubt how actually real this person's chances of being a candidate are. Clearly, they don't seem too interested if they're ok discussing it with Friedman for this piece.

 

[Petrus]

This is another GM who fits the description of what we want in a new GM saying this apparently. So it is the opinion of at least one GM, probably more.

I didn’t get the sense Shanny is committed to an experienced GM only.

He actually said (and I am paraphrasing), experience would be nice/helpful/ideal but he remains open minded. It seems the media ran away with it and thinks only experience GMs is what Shanny is looking for.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Everyone here has assured me Dubas was the problem, Shanny is the best, and everything is fine.

These Tweets are clearly a lie.

Shocker that firing a GM based on personal feelings wasn’t the most prudent course of action.

 

[notbias]

I didn’t get the sense Shanny is committed to an experienced GM only.

He actually said (and I am paraphrasing), experience would be nice/helpful/ideal but he remains open minded. It seems the media ran away with it and thinks only experience GMs is what Shanny is looking for.

That is good because all the experienced ones available suck.