Auston Matthews Discussion Thread

[Stephen]

If I'm the Leafs, I pay Auston Matthews enough money so he can own the Coyotes one day, not be an employee.

 

[Mess]

If I'm the Leafs, I pay Auston Matthews enough money so he can own the Coyotes one day, not be an employee.

A bit of good news for Leaf fans is that apparently according to the NHL the salary cap will go up by $1 mil next year, however by the time Matthews contract would end the NHLPA will have paid back the owners and then the Salary Cap is expected to increase due to new money coming in, just in time to re-sign Matthews.

 

[Stephen]

A bit of good news for Leaf fans is that apparently according to the NHL the salary cap will go up by $1 mil next year, however by the time Matthews contract would end the NHLPA will have paid back the owners and then the Salary Cap is expected to increase due to new money coming in, just in time to re-sign Matthews.

That bit of cap calculus doesn't bother me too much either way. We already pay him close to $12 million and have a functional, 1st overall quality team around him. An incremental raise to $13-15 is going to be painful, but you can find the incremental difference in the cap going up. Another team would have to cleave out $15 million in space and pitch over quite a lot to do it.

 

[Mess]

That bit of cap calculus doesn't bother me too much either way. We already pay him close to $12 million and have a functional, 1st overall quality team around him. An incremental raise to $13-15 is going to be painful, but you can find the incremental difference in the cap going up. Another team would have to cleave out $15 million in space and pitch over quite a lot to do it.

Leafs will make Matthews a priority however the Leafs can also re-invest the Nylander cap/money if needed towards Matthews as both contracts end at the same time, and it will be difficult to re-sign both, and knowing Marner is a UFA along with JT the following year.

Leafs window of opportunity seems to be closing soon as core 4 contracts all end in the next few years, so Leafs are going to need to win prior to re-signings.

 

[Stephen]

Leafs will make Matthews a priority however the Leafs can also re-invest the Nylander cap/money if needed towards Matthews as both contracts end at the same time, and it will be difficult to re-sign both, and knowing Marner is a UFA along with JT the following year.

Leafs window of opportunity seems to be closing soon as core 4 contracts all end in the next few years, so Leafs are going to need to win prior to re-signings.

I think they just need to get past that one overlap season where Matthews and maybe Nylander have their new deals and then let it run down on Tavares' contract. Marner re-signs. His cap hit is already so high they could just extend it. If Tavares wants to come back, I would assume it would be at a much reduced salary.

Or it could all be a moot point and we're all buying McDavid jerseys, who knows?

 

[Mess]

I think they just need to get past that one overlap season where Matthews and maybe Nylander have their new deals and then let it run down on Tavares' contract. Marner re-signs. His cap hit is already so high they could just extend it. If Tavares wants to come back, I would assume it would be at a much reduced salary.

Or it could all be a moot point and we're all buying McDavid jerseys, who knows?

We all know we shouldn't be in this position as Matthews @$11.65 should have been for 8 year term using McDavid $12.5 mil X 8 as the upper ceiling, instead being in a position to have to pay $15 mil to keep him or lose our franchise player at age 27.

However plan B might in fact be in you can't keep Auston then McDavid would be a nice replacement for him to come home.

 

[Confucius]

Its images like this that give them hope.

but mostly this

Arizona is hoping he pulls a John Tavares and returns home and saves his favourite boyhood team.

Because our franchise player was not locked away for 8 years, it does give some Leaf fans pause for concern that he might leave after this contract ends.

Too far off to be concerned about today. LOL. It's 4 playoffs from now at the earliest that he wouldn't be wearing a Leaf unform during the playoffs.

 

[Dekes For Days]

We all know we shouldn't be in this position as Matthews @$11.65 should have been for 8 year term

We all know that we're in this position so that we could keep this elite collection of players together, and have the amazing team we currently have, and that 11.65 x 8 years would have been an underpayment for Matthews, who earned the contract he got.

using McDavid $12.5 mil X 8 as the upper ceiling

Except McDavid signing under the current cap would have been the equivalent of 13.6m x 8 years, post-discount on the 14.4m x 8 negotiated value.

instead being in a position to have to pay $15 mil to keep him

You have no idea what he'll cost to re-sign.

 

[ToneDog]

We all know we shouldn't be in this position as Matthews @$11.65 should have been for 8 year term using McDavid $12.5 mil X 8 as the upper ceiling, instead being in a position to have to pay $15 mil to keep him or lose our franchise player at age 27.

However plan B might in fact be in you can't keep Auston then McDavid would be a nice replacement for him to come home.

Doubt many teams would be winning to pay him $15m but if there are any, the Leafs would be at the top of that list once Tavares if off the books.

 

[Stonehands1990]

That bit of cap calculus doesn't bother me too much either way. We already pay him close to $12 million and have a functional, 1st overall quality team around him. An incremental raise to $13-15 is going to be painful, but you can find the incremental difference in the cap going up. Another team would have to cleave out $15 million in space and pitch over quite a lot to do it.

Crosby & Malkin didn’t/barely took raises after their initial 5 year deals expired. Hope Matty is taking notes. Hope his next deal is 12-12.5 but I think we all know it’s gonna be a lot higher

 

[Mess]

Crosby & Malkin didn’t/barely took raises after their initial 5 year deals expired. Hope Matty is taking notes. Hope his next deal is 12-12.5 but I think we all know it’s gonna be a lot higher

Here is the problem with that as I see it.

Matthews got the Leafs to give him a 5 year deal at $11.64 mil and if he would have been happy with your range of < $1 mil raise for years 6-8 it would have been included in his last deal on an 8 year term. IMO

Even at $12.5 mil its only +$860k more than he is making now and Leafs would have been nuts not to agree to that amount when they signed this last deal and locked him up 8 years, buying 3 more years of free agency.

The short term deal was designed to hit the contract table again sooner and hitting it big on his next deal.

 

[Stonehands1990]

Here is the problem with that as I see it.

Matthews got the Leafs to give him a 5 year deal at $11.64 mil and if he would have been happy with your range of < $1 mil raise for years 6-8 it would have been included in his last deal on an 8 year term. IMO

Even at $12.5 mil its only +$860k more than he is making now and Leafs would have been nuts not to agree to that amount when they signed this last deal and locked him up 8 years, buying 3 more years of free agency.

The short term deal was designed to hit the contract table again sooner and hitting it big on his next deal.

Crosby and Malkin’s first deals were both 5 years. It’s essentially the exact same comparison

 

[Mess]

Crosby and Malkin’s first deals were both 5 years. It’s essentially the exact same comparison

Different CBA rules as Crosby signed a 12 year extension for similar money after winning 3 X Stanley Cups as captain and multiple Conn Smythe trophies.

What incentive would be there to leave chasing money or success by signing a guaranteed 12 year $104 mil deal and lock yourself in for 20 years to the same team where you have been highly successful as a player and team?

Lets hope Matthews leads the Leafs to Cup(s) success before his current deal expires if you want him to lock into a 8 year discount deal to stay like Sid.

 

[GojuLeaf]

wonder what his endorsements are like here in Toronto, I dnt see him in many ads when he could be making double the money off that alone.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Matthews got the Leafs to give him a 5 year deal at $11.64 mil and if he would have been happy with your range of < $1 mil raise for years 6-8 it would have been included in his last deal on an 8 year term.

No it wouldn't have, because even if he planned to sign for the exact same cap hit percentage after 5 years, that would have equated to more than a 1 mil difference, given what the cap was projected to do in the coming years pre-pandemic.

The short term deal was designed to hit the contract table again sooner and hitting it big on his next deal.

That is incorrect. The most common contract length for a player of that caliber was given to him in order to keep the team together.

Different CBA rules as Crosby signed a 12 year extension for similar money after winning 3 X Stanley Cups as captain and multiple Conn Smythe trophies.

That is again incorrect. Crosby signed his 12-year deal with only 1 cup and 0 Conn Smythe trophies.

 

[saffronleaf]

I think they just need to get past that one overlap season where Matthews and maybe Nylander have their new deals and then let it run down on Tavares' contract. Marner re-signs. His cap hit is already so high they could just extend it. If Tavares wants to come back, I would assume it would be at a much reduced salary.

Or it could all be a moot point and we're all buying McDavid jerseys, who knows?

agreed but I wonder how they navigate that overlap year. Would be foolish to give up Nylander just because of the 7th year of JT's deal.

 

[Martin Skoula]

If I'm the Leafs, I pay Auston Matthews enough money so he can own the Coyotes one day, not be an employee.

So just give him a couple hundred bucks to pay for an accountant willing to do the paperwork to give his client a 50mil/year liability?

 

[Stonehands1990]

Different CBA rules as Crosby signed a 12 year extension for similar money after winning 3 X Stanley Cups as captain and multiple Conn Smythe trophies.

What incentive would be there to leave chasing money or success by signing a guaranteed 12 year $104 mil deal and lock yourself in for 20 years to the same team where you have been highly successful as a player and team?

Lets hope Matthews leads the Leafs to Cup(s) success before his current deal expires if you want him to lock into a 8 year discount deal to stay like Sid.

Im pretty sure Crosby won 1 cup in his 3rd year while on ELC and then won 2 cups during his 12 year deal when Kessel went to Pittsburgh

 

[Maplebeasts]

If I'm the Leafs, I pay Auston Matthews enough money so he can own the Coyotes one day, not be an employee.

Nobody wants to own the Coyotes with how much they lose annually. Sounds like a great idea if your goal is to slowly bankrupt yourself lol.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Its images like this that give them hope.

but mostly this

Arizona is hoping he pulls a John Tavares and returns home and saves his favourite boyhood team.

Because our franchise player was not locked away for 8 years, it does give some Leaf fans pause for concern that he might leave after this contract ends.

Oh please. John Tavares left a team that looked like it was spinning it's wheels and going nowhere to a team that looked like it was ready to seriously contend for a cup. Matthews is not leaving this team to go play for a terrible, failing Mickey Mouse Club because they're located where he grew up.

 

[Confucius]

If I'm the Leafs, I pay Auston Matthews enough money so he can own the Coyotes one day, not be an employee.

You want to bankrupt the guy? What did he ever do to you?

 

[Dragao6]

Its images like this that give them hope.

but mostly this

Arizona is hoping he pulls a John Tavares and returns home and saves his favourite boyhood team.

Because our franchise player was not locked away for 8 years, it does give some Leaf fans pause for concern that he might leave after this contract ends.

lets hope they still have a team by then

as leafs fan im not very concerned

 

[BlueBaron]

Its images like this that give them hope.

but mostly this

Arizona is hoping he pulls a John Tavares and returns home and saves his favourite boyhood team.

Because our franchise player was not locked away for 8 years, it does give some Leaf fans pause for concern that he might leave after this contract ends.

Stop listening to Oiler fans. Why does he leave an original 6 contender ,which is the biggest market in the sports, for a bottom feeder with an uncertain future and the smallest market? That's a retirement move.

You have to remember when Jt joined us we already had our core stars and he knew he was going to have to fight for ice time. The only reason is home which is almost never enough unless it's a retirement contract.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

We can just sign Connor “No Defense” McDavid to replace them worst comes to worst. Then we can also poach the Coyotes Ontario born players.

 

[WTFMAN99]

We can just sign Connor “No Defense” McDavid to replace them worst comes to worst. Then we can also poach the Coyotes Ontario born players.

I think McDavid sacrifices defense for offense...if he doesn't get 2-3 points, rarely does that team ever win.