Player Discussion Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

[Stephen]

Because it is almost impossible to find a more skilled player who can shoot and score .. diamond in da rough as they say .. and Leafs will always have problem of making more cash than any other hockey team .. sure some of it doesn't count in HRR but bottom lien every hockey player knows our Leafs are a cash cow .. so while other teams have cash limits which sometimes even are lower than AAV we aren't .. it makes for brutal negotiations

Maple Leafs salaries can be described as NHL and NBA under one roof.

For the impact of a NBA superstar, the Leafs pay Matthews the equivalent of an average NBA guy coming off the bench. In an NHL cap environment it can cause competitive issues but from pure dollars and cents his salary is a bargain.

Did the math a while back based on Forbes numbers. Based on hockey related revenue the Leafs only spend about 35% on players. That’s including all their minor league and whatever Robidas Island charges. So the money isn’t important.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Listening to the FAN Hockey show, they just said Matthews told reporters he has a new injury

He is gonna play on Thursday, though.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

I don't doubt this, but why didn't management get his price down for this long-term ailment?

On the high end he's a 60-70 goal scorer, on the low end he's a 35-40 goal scorer.
Add that he's a center who plays a 200 foot game and you have yourself a high ticket player.

Back issues are not insurmountable, Lemieux had lots of problems and he was better than everyone. The bright side of him being greedy and only locking in for 4 years is that if he's unable to be elite, he'll be much cheaper when that next contract comes up.

 

[Stephen]

Listening to the FAN Hockey show, they just said Matthews told reporters he has a new injury

He is gonna play on Thursday, though.

Oh cool…

 

[Suntouchable13]

Oh cool…

Somehow I doubt he plays on the weekend for the Leafs.

 

[Stephen]

Somehow I doubt he plays on the weekend for the Leafs.

Yeah they definitely give him time off. And then he plays poorly and they shut him down as day to day for a couple of weeks.

Will be really weird to see how they handle Nylander and Marner coming back as well. Guess Nylander will be more fresh and will be in the roster. Marner 50-50.

 

[therealkoho]

i thought you're not going to watch the tournament? seriously you have weird hate obsession with matthews...find something else to be grumpy about


he was good, making plays all game long. if hughes connected on some of them plays, he could've easily had multi point game. Definitely, the brothers took the show, but Matthews was really good.

Yeah not sure about that, I mean assists really what good are they

 

[therealkoho]

Meaning we don’t have players to lead us.

Matthews post-game cited the Tkachuk brothers (and Miller) as “hard” players in a way supporting players defer to team leaders.

Definitely a Simon and Garfunkel Sounds of Silence moment for me thinking about how Matthews played his first years in the league.

Personally, I blame the mustache.

All kidding aside Matthews has never been a captain at any level until now. Matthews has never been on or led a team to a league championship at any level ever.

Yes he's pretty handy at putting the puck in the net, but if he's not doing that then what's he honestly doing?

 

[therealkoho]

Did Matthew’s get a point? Nylander didn’t get one on zibenijad(butchered spelling I’m sure) but set the whole goal up Hes been better on the offensive side not even a question

Yes on goal #4 vs Finland

He's looked pretty good defensively. Frustrating watching him shut down the likes of McDavid and MacKinnon last game.

Did he? One I'd believe but both, hmmm

 

[Bust]

It’s clear as mud, to anyone who’s played any level of sport with a nagging back issue, very clear whats going on.

Dudes back is wrecked and probably has disk issues. That doesn’t mean he can’t play up to, if not surpass his previous output, but he has to be careful.

Back issues are tricky, you can feel totally fine, but once you start to push your limits it begins to flare up. He’s clearly lost some explosiveness in his shot, which makes sense as he can’t load his wrister. The more you think about it, makes total sense.

I hope we shut him down after the 4 nations until playoffs. I assume if this wasn’t the first “best on best” tournament he would have sat this one out.

 

[LeafEgo]

Maple Leafs salaries can be described as NHL and NBA under one roof.

For the impact of a NBA superstar, the Leafs pay Matthews the equivalent of an average NBA guy coming off the bench. In an NHL cap environment it can cause competitive issues but from pure dollars and cents his salary is a bargain.

Did the math a while back based on Forbes numbers. Based on hockey related revenue the Leafs only spend about 35% on players. That’s including all their minor league and whatever Robidas Island charges. So the money isn’t important.

Surprisingly the Raptors and Leafs generate similar revenues and profits. I guess HRR sharing largely offsets the lower payroll costs.

Leafs still take home an extra 10M or so, but unless HRR sharing rules were changed, additional payroll costs would soon make them the underperforming portco.

 

[therealkoho]

Well Matthews is a two time Rocket Richard, one time Hart Trophy, Calder Trophy and Ted Lindsay award winner who’s twice scored 60 goals. That gives him more street cred but he still hasn’t delivered in the playoffs but that’s also a collective failure.

Funny enough that's what Marner is pilloried for, but somehow Mattews gets a pass and yet he's involved in the same failure.

 

[therealkoho]

Yea that is why I have him as horrific he was responsible in part for 2 goals and I dont recall him creating really anything vs Canada.

Crosby was terrible game 2 vs US and his turnover was what was us along with Binnington being terrible so he had similarly horrific game as Nylander did vs Canada.

I heard Crosby was horrid because of Matthews and his Bob Gainey level defensive prowess that even Gretzky would be powerless against.

$13.25M Rob Zamuner

I was thinking more Joel Otto, great defense acceptable offense

 

[Apex Predator]

a few people predicted the last time he came back he was going to show his healthy, play at this tournament and then come back injured for the leafs. He will end up missing time instead of skipping this tournament to rehab. It’s looking like that is what is going to happen.

 

[Aashir]

Listening to the FAN Hockey show, they just said Matthews told reporters he has a new injury

He is gonna play on Thursday, though.

he better play on the weekend for us…surely if he can play on the finals of this tournament he can play for the leafs

this injury is completely self inflicted, he was suffering from an injury beforehand, decided to go and play, and now is injured again. He should’ve just sat this one out, go play the Olympics next year, but he’d rather do anything for anyone vs the leafs.

Another reason on the huge bulletin board on why he doesn’t deserve 13.25 or to be the leafs captain

 

[Suntouchable13]

he better play on the weekend for us…surely if he can play on the finals of this tournament he can play for the leafs

this injury is completely self inflicted, he was suffering from an injury beforehand, decided to go and play, and now is injured again. He should’ve just sat this one out, go play the Olympics next year, but he’d rather do anything for anyone vs the leafs.

Another reason on the huge bulletin board on why he doesn’t deserve 13.25 or to be the leafs captain

I bet he will not play on the weekend lol.

 

[egd27]

I bet he will not play on the weekend lol.

wouldn't be very "captain like"

 

[ULF_55]

wouldn't be very "captain like"

Doesn't it depend on expectations?

Marketing yourself as Leafs Captain, definitely will garner more promotions/endorsements than being assistant Captain.

Representing your country trumps showing up to work for your employer.

 

[Aashir]

Doesn't it depend on expectations?

Marketing yourself as Leafs Captain, definitely will garner more promotions/endorsements than being assistant Captain.

Representing your country trumps showing up to work for your employer.

Or…maybe do f***ing both like the other 95% of the players at this tournament will do.

What is Mcdavid gonna go back and be a 1.00ppg player?
Is MacKinnon or eichel or Hughes or etc…

Why is everything just based on money? Does he not want to win a Stanley cup? If that’s not an instant yes we should just deal him.

f***ing tired of excuses made for this guy

 

[kevsh]

Listening to the FAN Hockey show, they just said Matthews told reporters he has a new injury

He is gonna play on Thursday, though.

What could go wrong?

 

[egd27]

Doesn't it depend on expectations?

Marketing yourself as Leafs Captain, definitely will garner more promotions/endorsements than being assistant Captain.

Representing your country trumps showing up to work for your employer.

Not clear on the point you are trying to make, but my personal expectation is that an NHL Captain's first priority should be his NHL team. If he's well enough to play on Thursday, he should be playing Saturday (barring an injury occurring during the Thursday game that put's him out)

 

[ULF_55]

Or…maybe do f***ing both like the other 95% of the players at this tournament will do.

What is Mcdavid gonna go back and be a 1.00ppg player?
Is MacKinnon or eichel or Hughes or etc…

Why is everything just based on money? Does he not want to win a Stanley cup? If that’s not an instant yes we should just deal him.

f***ing tired of excuses made for this guy

I would have no qualms dealing him for a value return, as we should for any player.
Matthews is not the best player in the game.
Matthews value however is huge, and would want better than the Big M trade in return.

It isn't like dismantling a winner, or a Gretzky dynasty.

To put some perspective in the "highest scoring Leafs players ever" for the Leafs ...

Nylander is in the Top 10 for points, today's records might be a tad diluted.

 

[leafsfan5]

I mean, none of these games actually mean anything.

I'm not sure how you could watch any of these games, especially Canada versus USA, and think they mean nothing

This is playoff level intensity. Eichel has literally won a cup yet he's calling tomorrow's game the biggest game of his life

 

[Stephen]

Doesn't it depend on expectations?

Marketing yourself as Leafs Captain, definitely will garner more promotions/endorsements than being assistant Captain.

Representing your country trumps showing up to work for your employer.

There are always excuses with Matthews why you can’t get X, Y, Z out of him and it’s a choice between goals, points versus team winning or what he has to prioritize one thing. With a lot of other superstars it’s just more of an automatic that they’ll show up anywhere they go and they’ll shine, their greatness directly fueling the team’s success with delineation between individual and collective. It’s just so annoying with Matthews.

 

[Confucius]

I mean, none of these games actually mean anything.

It’s all about entertainment just as any game is, so ofcourse it is not meaningless