Rumor: Dater: MacKinnon Seeking to Be the NHL's Highest Paid Player

[67 others]

They won 3 Stanley cups. What more proof do you need for them to get paid? They earned that.

Yes, they earned it. And the team they play for never did a damn thing again and their team was crippled after those contracts. In the 7 years since those Kane/Toews contracts kicked in, they made the playoffs 3 times and were bounced early. The fans for a year or two were happy anyways because they had just won cups. 3 years later they were mad the cap had not gone up way more and called it unfair. About 4 years later they were begging for Toews to retire or get traded and sick of the mediocrity

I am not denying they earned those contracts. But Crosby signing that team friendly deal after winning a cup made enough of a difference that the Pens could afford more depth with their roster juggling and they went on to win 2 more cups with Crosby and Malkin being their biggest contracts and they were/are/always have been better players and cheaper than Kane/Toews giving their team flexibility

 

[Byron Bitz]

Yes, they earned it. And the team they play for never did a damn thing again and their team was crippled after those contracts. In the 7 years since those Kane/Toews contracts kicked in, they made the playoffs 3 times and were bounced early. The fans for a year or two were happy anyways because they had just won cups. 3 years later they were mad the cap had not gone up way more and called it unfair. About 4 years later they were begging for Toews to retire or get traded and sick of the mediocrity

I am not denying they earned those contracts. But Crosby signing that team friendly deal after winning a cup made enough of a difference that the Pens could afford more depth with their roster juggling and they went on to win 2 more cups with Crosby and Malkin being their biggest contracts and they were/are/always have been better players and cheaper than Kane/Toews giving their team flexibility

Crosby and Malkin’s deals were only team friendly because the cap went up a lot after they signed them. That may happen with Mackinnon’s deal as well. In 3 or 4 years his 13 million will seem like a bargain if the cap skyrockets and lesser players are signing for 15 mil.

 

[67 others]

Crosby and Malkin’s deals were only team friendly because the cap went up a lot after they signed them. That may happen with Mackinnon’s deal as well. In 3 or 4 years his 13 million will seem like a bargain if the cap skyrockets and lesser players are signing for 15 mil.

No, Crosby's was considered a grand slam home run team friendly deal at the time. Malkin's was not

NHL sets 2012-13 salary cap at $70.2 million

www.sportsnet.ca

70.2 million cap when Crosby signed and it kicked in in 2013-14. Was even at the time considered a bargain for a generational player.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-salary-cap-2016-2017-1.3646631

Toews/Kane signed, cap was 71.4 million and were considered not team friendly whatsoever. In fact, it was considered selfish overpay by many,

And in the end, it was obvious who were better. Crosby and Malkin went on to win 2 more cups after their contracts. Toews and Kane haven't sniffed a 7 game series and in fact, usually miss the playoffs.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Hard to deny that wanting to be the highest paid player will handcuff the team signing said player.

He has earned it but it becomes a matter of what does MacK prioritize: money or winning more Cups?

There is no wrong answer but it is a balancing act.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Hard to deny that wanting to be the highest paid player will handcuff the team signing said player.

He has earned it but it becomes a matter of what does MacK prioritize: money or winning more Cups?

There is no wrong answer but it is a balancing act.

It’s greed. As if he could ever even spend all those millions anyways.

 

[Steerpike]

No, Crosby's was considered a grand slam home run team friendly deal at the time. Malkin's was not

NHL sets 2012-13 salary cap at $70.2 million

www.sportsnet.ca

70.2 million cap when Crosby signed and it kicked in in 2013-14. Was even at the time considered a bargain for a generational player.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-salary-cap-2016-2017-1.3646631

Toews/Kane signed, cap was 71.4 million and were considered not team friendly whatsoever. In fact, it was considered selfish overpay by many,

And in the end, it was obvious who were better. Crosby and Malkin went on to win 2 more cups after their contracts. Toews and Kane haven't sniffed a 7 game series and in fact, usually miss the playoffs.

Comparing to the cap hits of the pre 2013 CBA is absurd. I'm sure MacKinnon would take more money but at a lower cap hit if he could sign a contract which expires at age 40 with 5 years of 1 million per at the back end.

We're basically missing an entire generation of comparables.

15.5% cap hit for MacKinnon isn't wildly unreasonable. He's not going to take a big discount after having the most valuable contract in the league for years.

McDavid probably should have taken something like a 19% cap hit but he left an enormous amount of money on the table. Look at what Ovechkin got on his first deal. Crosby's initial 8.7 deal took him to 17.6%.

Towes's 15.2% has been bad.
Are you sure that Kane's 15.2% has been bad?

 

[tapi]

If they do, they are stupid. Why would they cripple the team for the future? Newhook&Byram are RFA:s then also? You think paying McKinnon 15M and letting the youngsters walk is the right decision?

The cap is going up and McK has become kind of iconic in the franchise, so they'll seek to lock him up for career at this point. Maybe Mck will give a discount (he is a competitor, after all, and wants to win) where we would be looking at something like 12,5x8, we'll see how it turns out

 

[GM Armchair]

Yes, they earned it. And the team they play for never did a damn thing again and their team was crippled after those contracts. In the 7 years since those Kane/Toews contracts kicked in, they made the playoffs 3 times and were bounced early. The fans for a year or two were happy anyways because they had just won cups. 3 years later they were mad the cap had not gone up way more and called it unfair. About 4 years later they were begging for Toews to retire or get traded and sick of the mediocrity

I am not denying they earned those contracts. But Crosby signing that team friendly deal after winning a cup made enough of a difference that the Pens could afford more depth with their roster juggling and they went on to win 2 more cups with Crosby and Malkin being their biggest contracts and they were/are/always have been better players and cheaper than Kane/Toews giving their team flexibility

Sure. But let’s be honest here bud, how many players actually care. How many superstars do you see taking team friendly contracts now a days. Comparing players signing contracts 9 years ago to today is just ridiculous. Look at the leafs, what have any of those players done to deserve their contracts. Eichel. Laine. Mcdavid. McDavids lover. Panarin. The list goes on man. Players want to get PAID.

I agree with you with the fact that players should be more open to signing team friendly deals but it just doesn’t happen anymore.

 

[Emperoreddy]

He was playing Hart level hockey on a super cheap deal for what he brings.

Nothing wrong with him wanting to get paid

 

[olli]

He's twice the player as Gaudreau is. And Gaudreau's a top tier player.

But you don't seem to understand the RFA discounts. Makar signed mostly as RFA, so did McDavid. What they would get as UFA would have been incredibly more. MacKinnon will be in his prime as a UFA.

Yeah that’s a good point, we haven’t seen this generation of elite players sign ufa contracts. Still, I think 13M is too much in my eyes but we’ll see. I would love to see Mackinnon bet on himself this year with the idea that if he has a massive career year he can cash in even more than if he signed now.

 

[centipede2233]

Crosby and Malkin’s deals were only team friendly because the cap went up a lot after they signed them. That may happen with Mackinnon’s deal as well. In 3 or 4 years his 13 million will seem like a bargain if the cap skyrockets and lesser players are signing for 15 mil.

If you recall, the reason the pens won back to back cups is when Crosby and malkin’s 5 yr deals were up, Crosby resigned at the same 8.7 caphit, malkin got a bit of a raise.

 

[Bluesguru]

There was a time when no team won with a player making 8M, then it happened. There was a time when no team won with a player making 9M, then it happened.

Do you think Tampa doesn't win if they had paid Kucherov 10M instead of 9.5M? Or Makar making 10M instead of 9M? Lol.

McDavid and Panarin are 1 and 2 and they both made the conference finals. Kucherov, Vasilevskiy, (Point), Rantanen, Makar, also all made it further making 9M or more, but apparently if they made just a couple bucks more they wouldn't have. Florida probably wins if Barkov and Bob signed $9,999,999.99 contracts in your mind eh? Lol.

And yet it’s a valid statement LOL back at ya

 

[Gruyeriev]

When players say they are taking a hometown discount you are talking 250-500K. You low ball Nate and he will walk. He’s already won a cup and someone will pay him. I’d be shocked if he took 10M.

 

[McVespa99]

He'd get a max deal for 7 years from whatever teams have the cap space.

That would be pretty much 0 teams

 

[jonlin]

When players say they are taking a hometown discount you are talking 250-500K. You low ball Nate and he will walk. He’s already won a cup and someone will pay him. I’d be shocked if he took 10M.

I`d think 11M could get it done. McKinnon, who cares about his teammates eating- and training-habits and goes crazy if someone doesnt do theese things right, do seem like a guy who is committed to winning before cash. I doubt he want max money and because of this, lose a few good teammates?

 

[Holymakinaw]

I`d think 11M could get it done. McKinnon, who cares about his teammates eating- and training-habits and goes crazy if someone doesnt do theese things right, do seem like a guy who is committed to winning before cash. I doubt he want max money and because of this, lose a few good teammates?

McKinnon for 11M? I doubt it. He'll get 13/14M, as he should. 11M contracts for the league's biggest Superstars is from a 4-5 years ago, not for 2022. Winning & teammates is important, sure. But this is a business and he's giving that team the very best years of his career. He'll get paid top dollar for that.

 

[mapleleafslaughssame]

Yes but you said ANY free agent. I'm calling out this logic, and reminding you that this is the exact reason your team has been and will be in a cap crunch for years. It isn't a good method to build a team.

He's gonna get paid, yeah. But simply giving a guy "whatever he wants" is a Dubas move, that's all I'm saying. Granted, Mack is better than any of the guys Dubas has vastly overpaid.

Well go big or go home.

Realistically dubas only messed up with Tavares. He’s a unnecessary addition and cost too much. His other small mistake was overpaying marner who was a rfa.

Outside of signing Tavares tho we would have been okay.

You have good players you pay them pretty simple.

 

[The Kingslayer]

It’s greed. As if he could ever even spend all those millions anyways.

its pretty damn easy to burn through those millions of dollars.

 

[MuckOG]

It’s greed. As if he could ever even spend all those millions anyways.

You might be surprised.

 

[Rorschach]

Probably more like Mrs. MacKinnon orders agent to get the top contract in the league.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

He hasn't been getting paid a lot relative to his play the last number of years so I see no issue with him wanting to get paid on his next deal. Draisaitl will be in the same boat when his deal is up.

 

[thefutures]

NHL shouldn't have a salary cap, time to find more ambitious owners who don't mind spending on their assets. No issues with Mack potentially wanting to be the highest paid player in the league, but it shouldn't hamper a team to sign one of the best players.

 

[Foppberg]

You might be surprised.

Eh, he's not the type.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

It’s greed. As if he could ever even spend all those millions anyways.

The career span of an NHL player is relatively short, and MacKinnon is paying taxes at the 37% federal bracket plus another 4.55% for Colorado state taxes, so he's only saving towards retirement the remaining 60% or so, less current living expenses. Then, there are other expenses such as whatever percentage his agent is taking.

Also, it's not like MacKinnon will retire at 65 and only need the money for maybe 30 years, but rather if he retired at 35 he would need the money for maybe 60 years (what else is he qualified to do back in the real world? Be the captain of a 737? Take a job as a derivatives trader? Go into plastic surgery?). So, from his perspective, he needs to make enough money that he can live off the investment return on that money and also beat inflation over 60 years. How much is that? Well, it's obviously a guess, but the most practical answer to him is "As much as I can possible make."

Now, if you start looking at some of the players in other sport leagues who have quarter-billion player contracts, plus multi-million endorsements contracts, then "How much is enough?" becomes a moot point. But that's not the NHL.

 

[jimmysheva]

Don't marry women who like expensive stuff and your millions will be safe.