Bleacher Report blogger says that Toronto no longer appeals to free agents, not considered a winning organization

[Nogatco Rd]

Not really everything in Canada costs much more. Besides it's the anomintiy that they are after the most.

Again main factor is anomintiy and I suppose way less pressure. The other things are a bonus like weather and taxes and I agree they don't get the weather taxes everywhere in USA but they do get the anomintiy pretty much anywhere in USA.

I got stung by a sea anomintiy once, hurt like a bastard

 

[MessierII]

Firing Dubas came with a heavy cost.

You mean hiring Dubas right?

 

[Killer Orcas]

I got stung by a sea anomintiy once, hurt like a bastard

LOL haha ok anonymity there you go and thanks I really fumbled that one !

 

[pb1300]

As a Panthers homer who hates the Leafs, and their fans (the obnoxious ones at least), I think it would be cool to wear the jersey, and be able to play with the games premier scorer.

I just think you have to have very thick skin, and be a certain type of player, in order to face the scrutiny of the media and fans. It is too harsh IMO, and not fair. I guess coaching and management also comes into play when players are choosing between teams, and maybe they are not so appealing.

It is like the Miami Heat culture. It is not for everyone. Players know that when you go to Miami, you are going to have some of the most intense practices and workouts on a daily basis, and not all players are built for that.

I guess not all players are built to losing in the first round, so maybe that is also why they decide not to sign with the Leafs

 

[frisco]

Importance of childhood bedsheets is being severely over-looked.

My Best-Carey

 

[Suntouchable13]

Why would most players wanna play with the 4 divas anyway. Nylander showed some accountability at least, but the other 3? Not even an ounce. Leafs are a joke. I am as a fan of them don’t really even want to be associated with them anymore, to be quite frank. I’d cheer for someone else, but it’s not that easy to jump ship. The top 4 players are so off putting.

 

[John Mandalorian]

It’s a little odd that he admits this but won’t go as far as conceding it was a mistake to sign Tavares to that contract. Even if Matthews, Marner, and Nylander would have signed for a little less, that would still mean 11 m is tied up in a player who hasn’t been worth close to that and one whose age didn’t align with the rest of the core to the extent it undermined the roster flexibility during the cores prime years.

Yes, the core has underperformed in the playoffs at times. And that goes without saying. But that doesn’t mean other things aren’t also true at the same time.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Whereas Toronto was considered a winning organization before?

If Toronto has lost appeal to free agents, it's because of the media and tax disadvantages, (Probably a big reason they pay their stars primarily in signing bonuses) not because of some prior illusion they were a winning organization. They haven't won since the O6 era...

 

[johnnybbadd]

Jeff Skinner, the ultimate winner in the NHL (the guy with the record of most games played while never making the playoffs) chose not to sign with Toronto because they are not a winner...... He's just great at identifying winning organizations because he's been with so many....

He’s going the same path as Ron Hainsey. Play your whole career without sniffing the playoffs and then win a cup your first time in. All that will be left is to join the Leafs after the cup win.

 

[Kegs]

Hot take from bleacher report. Hockey experts over there.

 

[nbwingsfan]

The media circus surrounding them would be enough to keep me from ever signing there.

Yeah Marner has been bad, but so have so many other players on that team in the post season, yet for some reason all get a pass.

I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the next target by the media/fans

And yet Stephenson was the best we can sign to try to upgrade our forwards and Seattle got criticized for giving Stephenson that contract. There were others i wanted instead but they ended up either re-signing or signing with some other team. Trying to get elite top 6 forwards at FA with out really over paying or try to trade for one and have that player actually want to re-sign with said team is going to be difficult if the team isn't a cup contender.

If we want to want people to want to come here, we have to overpay to get them to want to come here despite not being close to being legit cup contenders. I think in some cases players rather sign with a cup contender than sign with a team that isn't close to being exactly that.

Montour just won the cup and probably wants to do what's best for his family. He could have easily just sign with some other US team.

Regarding the leafs. Auston Matthews re-signed with them, so did Nylander.

So no idea why Chris Johnston think there is no "appeal" with the leafs. Matthews could have easily decided to not re-signed and walked one he's a UFA. Same with Nylander.

I think Johnston is just looking for something to talk about and its so easy to trash the leafs.

Also what exactly is a winning organization is subjective and up to interpretation. The cup is very very difficult to win especially with a salary cap.

A player signing at FA to some other "winning organization" team doesn't increase his chances at the cup as much as signing with the leafs does.

Matthews only seems to care about money and fame.

There’s no where else you’re getting more of that playing hockey than in Toronto

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Not a winning organization? You’re just telling me for the first time, I haven’t heard that

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

I got stung by a sea anomintiy once, hurt like a bastard

Why not help the guy?

anonymity - Google Suche

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

LOL haha ok anonymity there you go and thanks I really fumbled that one !

Just say privacy, it's saying the same thing you're trying to say and very easy to spell

 

[LeafGrief]

I feel this is fairly obvious. We had a promising young core a few years ago, but after years of failure and no changes to the core, it's clear that this team isn't particularly serious about winning. Sure, we make the playoffs and have good players, but anyone can tell that this team doesn't value accountability or winning very much.

We appeal to guys who want a one year shot in the top6 with someone who will pad their stats, or guys who are on the downswing of their career and want to parley their reputations into a few extra dollars. We appeal to players who think that a chance as a one year dumpster-dive special in a big market will put them on the map and get a 3 year contract from Edmonton afterwards.

The guys who really want to win are going to go places where there is a winning pedigree, stability in management, and a stable locker room. The Leafs are a country club for talented players who'd kinda like to win, they are not in any way an organization who's sights are set on winning above all. "We tried but it was really hard, we'll get 'em next year" is the team's current motto. Good players, no guts.

 

[thewookie1]

The real reason players don't want to sign with Toronto is due to the ridiculous amount of off-ice pressure they have to endure. No matter where you go, besides Montreal, you will have more issues off the ice when in Toronto or Montreal than anywhere else.

1. Media - they are manic and bipolar about the team at every given moment. Every win is the Stanley Cup and every loss may as well be a Soviet vs Canada loss.
2. Fan Expectations - every teams' fans want their team to win; Leaf fans want a perfect season and for every player to overplay their contract. Otherwise there's hell to pay.
3. Personal Lives - you don't really have one in Toronto, at least one that isn't public at practically every moment once they leave their respective house. You cannot walk into a store and not get swarmed and/or questioned unless your some lesser player although even that isn't a given. The whole Stamkos Twitter incident is a great example of this. Like any human, players need the opportunity to unplug and reset; it's borderline impossible in Toronto between advertising, radio, the populace.


ROR fell into this scenario, traded to your hometown team; you take heat for not doing enough, you get heat for not being willing to so re-sign cheaply, you get heat for going elsewhere, effectively you will get heat regardless.

 

[nturn06]

People definitely thought Toronto would be well-positioned to win when they had a young core of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly. Around 2017-19 they were considered a team with as good of a future outlook as any in the league. This a time before repeated playoff failures with the core. It's revisionist to say otherwise and referencing the long cup drought as a reason they weren't considered upcoming contenders is just memeing.

What you describe is not a winning organisation, it is one with potential.

Dubas took care of that potential

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I mean this isn’t shocking. They finished 11th last year. They are still a good regular season team but they’ve clearly become weaker each year since their peak a few years ago. And of course then there’s playoffs.

 

[JPT]

The real reason players don't want to sign with Toronto is due to the ridiculous amount of off-ice pressure they have to endure. No matter where you go, besides Montreal, you will have more issues off the ice when in Toronto or Montreal than anywhere else.

1. Media - they are manic and bipolar about the team at every given moment. Every win is the Stanley Cup and every loss may as well be a Soviet vs Canada loss.
2. Fan Expectations - every teams' fans want their team to win; Leaf fans want a perfect season and for every player to overplay their contract. Otherwise there's hell to pay.
3. Personal Lives - you don't really have one in Toronto, at least one that isn't public at practically every moment once they leave their respective house. You cannot walk into a store and not get swarmed and/or questioned unless your some lesser player although even that isn't a given. The whole Stamkos Twitter incident is a great example of this. Like any human, players need the opportunity to unplug and reset; it's borderline impossible in Toronto between advertising, radio, the populace.


ROR fell into this scenario, traded to your hometown team; you take heat for not doing enough, you get heat for not being willing to so re-sign cheaply, you get heat for going elsewhere, effectively you will get heat regardless.

I know there have been some posters who claim "anonymity" is a huge factor for players who sign with teams in the US instead of Canada, but it isn't even anonymity. Players on Sun Belt teams are going to get recognized when they go out. What isn't likely to happen is what I put in bold in your post. In those cities, no one is going to write a bullshit story about how a player has a hotdog diet, for instance. It isn't about anonymity really, but I'm sure it's a lot nicer to not be constantly, unfairly maligned by assholes who get paid to sit on their asses and write op-ed columns.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

for the media to talk about sure ....... but CM won't be a Maple Leaf.

As I said I expect him to re up .

 

[archangel2]

Neither were the oilers till this year

 

[JKG33]

I think CJ is a hack, but on this one he's bang on. Yes Toronto has been a terrible team for years, but at least in the Kessel/Phaneuf era there was hope that they could actually build something. But this iteration of the team is more hopless than that. It's become clear what a f***ing joke the Muskoka 4 are. Content to pad their regular season point totals, collect their paycheques and disappear every April.

This is quite frankly the most pathetic group of 4 players I've ever seen in the NHL. Not in terms of ability, but in terms of effort relative to talent and pay. They make career losers like Thornton, Marleau, and Doan look like winners by comparison. They bring an NBA work ethic at a time of year where 15 other teams are bringing their best.

Neither were the oilers till this year

The Oilers even before this year had their star players actually show up relative to their compensation, or even greater

 

[JPT]

I think CJ is a hack, but on this one he's bang on. Yes Toronto has been a terrible team for years, but at least in the Kessel/Phaneuf era there was hope that they could actually build something. But this iteration of the team is more hopless than that. It's become clear what a f***ing joke the Muskoka 4 are. Content to pad their regular season point totals, collect their paycheques and disappear every April.

This is quite frankly the most pathetic group of 4 players I've ever seen in the NHL. Not in terms of ability, but in terms of effort relative to talent and pay. They make career losers like Thornton, Marleau, and Doan look like winners by comparison. They bring an NBA work ethic at a time of year where 15 other teams are bringing their best.


The Oilers even before this year had their star players actually show up relative to their compensation, or even greater

Wait what? Players in the NBA don't work hard?

 

[NVious]

As a Panthers homer who hates the Leafs, and their fans (the obnoxious ones at least), I think it would be cool to wear the jersey, and be able to play with the games premier scorer.

I just think you have to have very thick skin, and be a certain type of player, in order to face the scrutiny of the media and fans. It is too harsh IMO, and not fair. I guess coaching and management also comes into play when players are choosing between teams, and maybe they are not so appealing.

It is like the Miami Heat culture. It is not for everyone. Players know that when you go to Miami, you are going to have some of the most intense practices and workouts on a daily basis, and not all players are built for that.

I guess not all players are built to losing in the first round, so maybe that is also why they decide not to sign with the Leafs

What scrutiny? This team has been one of the biggest laughing stocks for 6 decades (nothing happened to anyone really) although respectable at times, in the past 2 decades probably the worst sports franchise out there when you factor in the amount of resources/talent they have and how abysmally they've failed and what real scrutiny have they faced?

The fraud four completely and utterly failed for nearly a decade and what happened to them exactly? Nothing, they got fatter pay checks after every failure.

Toronto is an incredibly easy market to play in, all the fans want is 1.An honest effort 2.If you're not going to do 1 come playoff time, then don't take every last dollar on your contract at least (so the team can actually sign players that do 1)

The current stars have used up every last ounce of good will with their awful performances, Rielly hasn't been great either, but at least you can tell he honestly cares and he didn't try and take the team for every last dollar when he could've easily demanded 10+ million.

 

[Chainshot]

O'Reilly said recognition and press presence was only part of his decision not to re-sign:

'You do kind of fly under the radar': Ryan O’Reilly talks decision to leave Toronto

Ryan O'Reilly knows that the passionate fan base and attentive media is part of what makes playing hockey in Toronto unique, but at this point in his career, he's content to fly under the radar.

www.sportsnet.ca

But avoiding the spotlight of the mecca, he says, didn't play as much of a factor into his decision as outsiders thought.

"I think it got blown out of proportion a bit," O'Reilly said.

Yet, as a father of young children, O'Reilly does appreciate the ability to take his kids to local rinks without the attention suddenly shifting his way, even if a few Nashvillians do recognize him.

"You do kind of fly under the radar," O'Rielly said. "At this point in my career, I think I enjoy that, to be able to spend more time with my kids, more family time."