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

[Trapper]

Hayes is 100% right. Everyone else signs for 8 years. Why not Auston?

At this point I’m not even worried about 8 years vs. 5. It’s the $ amount of that 5.
If it’s right in MacKinnon/McDavid 12 something range, fine.

Then at least with 5 years, if his wrists, injuries become a concern, we can deal with it.
And if we can’t get past the 1st/2nd round in the next 5 years, we can detonate it.

 

[egd27]

He’s going to drop his drawers again?

If he finds himself drunk in a parking lot with a lone female security guard in her car? Yea, probably

 

[yubbers]

I guess we will find out soon enough. My bet? people aren't going to like what's coming lol

Yup. It's gonna get real ugly

 

[Sypher04]

When you want to predict how a person will react in the future, experts generally agree it’s best to turn an eye to the past. Looking at how the person has acted previously can lead to a fairly accurate prediction of future behaviour. After all, the past generally repeats itself, doesn’t it?

That’s all well and good but utterly meaningless. Maybe the past informs the future, maybe it doesn’t. We have no knowledge of anything that’s is important to Matthews, or how he views the team or his role in their failures etc etc. we have no idea what, if any, personal growth he’s undergone the past 4 years.

 

[yubbers]

If he finds himself drunk in a parking lot with a lone female security guard in her car? Yea, probably

I said AM was as good as gone the way MLSE handled that nothingburger. We'll find out soon!

 

[ULF_55]

Do it back….?
Don’t just stand there laughing staring at the ref…
Push him away..
Something other than just take it. I don’t expect him to legit fight anyone but show you’re not a weakling

You were also saying they won’t change, and I agree with you. But I don’t agree that you simply insulate them with a tough guy like a Wilson. At some point, you need to put on your own pants and not have some one doing it for you; the big boys love to dangle but they don’t like to play nasty, tight hockey and no one sticks up for anyone else or even themselves on this time, and why would you when your stars giggle when they’re getting socked in the face? Who would want to go to “war” with stars like that?
They’ve got to learn to do it themselves at least and then eventually for teammates. Until then, they’ll never win anything of merit, IMO

Nylander did one game this year.
But there was no support.

Freddie zgoat was tougher than Matthews.

 

[ACC1224]

Perhaps I’m misremembering but didn’t Matthews want 8 years last time but Dubas negotiated him down?

 

[New User Name]

Matthews won't be the end of the problem.

Whatever the Leafs give him, Marner will want something close to it and unfortunately Marners NMC kicks in July 1 for his last 2 years.

Perhaps I’m misremembering but didn’t Matthews want 8 years last time but Dubas negotiated him down?

I've seen something about that but never seen anything to substantiate it.

I think it was he wanted more $$ for 8 years...again, haven't seen anything to verify it.

 

[ULF_55]

Everything will be determined when marner re-signs.

That will indicate if the Leafs are a team or a loose collection of talent.

 

[Racer88]

Nobody here is every happy about anything so you’re probably right

I’m betting we would be happy about winning

 

[keonsbitterness]

I’m betting we would be happy about winning

"But we would have won more/sooner if........."

 

[Buds17]

Perhaps I’m misremembering but didn’t Matthews want 8 years last time but Dubas negotiated him down?

IIRC, scuttlebutt had it at 13.5M x 8. I believe the two sides settled on the lower AAV and term in order to keep enough of the team intact.

 

[Leaf Fans]

When you want to predict how a person will react in the future, experts generally agree it’s best to turn an eye to the past. Looking at how the person has acted previously can lead to a fairly accurate prediction of future behaviour. After all, the past generally repeats itself, doesn’t it?

I think that is definitely part of things. It takes repeated behaviors, of course, to determine the future, and most young people learn from mistakes, mature, and don't make them again.

 

[Divine]

Agree with Hayes here

If Matthews comes in and says I want a 3 year deal as the highest paid player in the NHL, he's showing he doesn't care about the team or winning.

Honest question, if the Leafs trade Matthews - do you see anyone giving Matthews these contracts?

 

[1specter]

Agree with everything Hayes says. This group of guys is a joke and this market is a joke. These guys' agents are in bed with media and use them as mouthpieces for ridiculous contracts that make no sense. Guys like Pasta and MacK sign 8 year deals but we're talking max money for 4-5 years for Matthews? Get the f*** outta here. And don't even get me started on what Marner will ask for if he's still around. f***ing joke

 

[Mess]

Everything will be determined when marner re-signs.

That will indicate if the Leafs are a team or a loose collection of talent.

Mitch Marner ($10.9 mil) to SJ for Erik Karlsson ($11.5 mil).

Leafs had among the lowest scoring defense and Karlsson finished with 82 games 25 - 76 - 101 points.

 

[therealkoho]

LMAO your not a leafs fan

Yeah sure, I've seen them win the SC in the Gardens, actually in the Gardens.

I believe that you are, I'm glad you are, because its a great thing, but what's obvious is that you can't accept the truth.

 

[therealkoho]

Something I heard today actually made my jaw drop.

RBC which is the sponser of the Canadian Open, the same RBC that pays Matthews scads of money to appear in those kind of limp commercials and act as a spokesperson for them. They asked Matthews to come and participate in the Opens celebrity pro-am, which he flat out refused to do.

You would think that a guy who supposedly "loves Toronto" not to mention makes some sweet coin from their association, couldn't be bugged to come up to the city he "loves" get to meet the new GM, shoot a nice easy round, get feted and pick up some swag thats fit for a king.

Not in love atm , perhaps?

 

[Future]

Perhaps I’m misremembering but didn’t Matthews want 8 years last time but Dubas negotiated him down?

That’s correct. All part of boy genius’ master plan.

 

[Bomber0104]

What a terrible position Kyle Dubas put this team in with these contracts.

He literally set up this player to absolutely put the screws to us and give him all leverage in his final year before UFA.

If there wasn't some sort of collusion or kickback to Dubas I'd be very surprised.

The whole thing reeks.

 

[therealkoho]

Yep, Hayes is spot on. Johnson lost all credibility when he said, "Why does Auston Matthews need to give the Leafs everything?" The Leafs gave this kid a blank check for 5 years and have given him, and the entire core, everything they have asked for. The Leafs would gladly make Matthews the highest paid player in hockey history with a $100 mil deal (8 x $12.7) but according to Johnson, that's "nothing" for Auston. In my opinion, it's put up or shut up time for Matthews and company. Either commit to the franchise and be cognizant of the hard cap or tell the team you want out so they can trade you.

Couldn't believe that crap flowed so freely out of Johnny's mouth. He is normally pretty level headed about that stuff, I kind of think he was playing Devils advocate to get Hayes wound up, and yes it worked.

What a terrible position Kyle Dubas put this team in with these contracts.

He literally set up this player to absolutely put the screws to us and give him all leverage in his final year before UFA.

If there wasn't some sort of collusion or kickback to Dubas I'd be very surprised.

The whole thing reeks.

Maybe the plan all along was to get Matthews home while still fairly young to prop that franchise in order to help build a bigger fan base.

They did it Gretzky, when the Kings needed a feature attraction

 

[Boxscore]

Lots of people out there putting words in Matthews mouth. He’s never said anything about being the highest paid player or the term he’s interested in yet people are criticizing him for it anyway. Lots of people speculating, including media, but nobody knows anything

While this is all true, if you are pretending all the signs aren't there, you might be kidding yourself. For one, we already went down this path once with Matthews when he signed a 5-year deal while young kids like McDavid, Draisaitl, Hughes, Stutzle, Dahlin, and others were/are willing to commit to their clubs long-term.

In addition to the short term commitment, Matthews demanded an insane amount of money and the Leafs willingly paid him, so the precedent was set. Even though Matthews has helped the Leafs win one round in 7 years, and his career PPG and GPG decrease dramatically during the playoffs, does anyone think Matthews is going to take a "pay cut?" Heck no.

Also, where there's smoke there's fire. Too many "hockey people" have come out and alluded to the fact that Matthews will likely demand historic money and for short term. At least some of these people know people, and people talk. Some people leverage others to seed narratives. I believe that's what's at play here.

When ex-players like Mike Johnson and other hockey pundits are campaigning for, and publicly justifying, Matthews getting 13.5+ million over 3 years, or 15 over 8, there's an agenda being pushed by someone. That all can't be smoke.

 

[Dreakmur]

Hayes is 100% right. Everyone else signs for 8 years. Why not Auston?

I honestly don’t want him to sign 8 this time. He’s very likely going to start declining in years 4-5 of this contract.

 

[Superstar]

Perhaps I’m misremembering but didn’t Matthews want 8 years last time but Dubas negotiated him down?

I think he did, but he wanted something around $13 to $14 million for 8 years...it's ridiculous.

I honestly don’t want him to sign 8 this time. He’s very likely going to start declining in years 4-5 of this contract.

5 years is fine with me...if Matthews is smart, he'll sign a reasonable deal for 8 years because i don't think his wrist will hold up...it's like a chronic issue.

 

[Boxscore]

I honestly don’t want him to sign 8 this time. He’s very likely going to start declining in years 4-5 of this contract.

If Matthews starts declining in 4 years, trade him tomorrow before Tim Horton's opens. He's going to get a 2 to 2.5 million raise during a couple of stagnant cap years which means the Leafs will actually lose more talent around him. By the time the cap starts to increase by a few mil (maybe in 2 years) Matthews will be ready to decline.

Not to mention, players like Sid, Ovie, Pavelski, etc. are still performing at a high level well into their late 30s. If Matthews starts declining at 29 or 30, that either means his body can't hold up, he doesn't take his conditioning serious enough, or he's just not that great.

Of course the Leafs want to commit to him long-term lol. But he wants all the leverage to keep signing future deals to maximize the dollars of the time. That's what this whole thing is about. Unfortunately, as a leader on the team, he will be setting the example...

If he settles for 12.6 then Marner likely requests 11. If he settles for 14.2 then Marner likely requests 12.6, etc. The Matthews contract has massive implications when it comes to resigning the other players as well. It's all about precedent setting.