Do you take the duo of Makar + McDavid each at 16M$ AAV for 8 years? Trades not allowed

[bobholly39]

Through some sort of league shenanigans, both Makar and McDavid end up UFA going into next season, and they can be signed by your team for 16M$ AAV each for 8 years. Rules are:

- Both players get full NMC/NTC and are adamant about refusing any/all trades for the first 6 years minimum
- You have to take both as a duo, not just one player
- Consider them UFA's - so you don't have to trade any assets to acquire them
- Obviously you have to be cap compliant - assume league gives you until opening day to clear cap room to fit them under your cap. So ~2-3 weeks worth to trade away enough assets to fit 32M$ in your cap.

Current NHL salary cap is 81.5M$. So it gives you just under 50M$ for rest of roster. Odds are over the next 8 years, cap will go up, maybe up to 100M$+, so eventually it might not be such a big part of the cap, but first few years it'll be huge impact.

I think there's a very strong case to make that McDavid + Makar are the two most valuable assets in league today. But - are they worth that price?

Do you take the deal, or no?

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[TLEH]

100%

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I would not but if I would the building would be full and i'd sell a ton of jerseys. Would make the team a cash cow since we aint winning jack S**** with two 16 million dollar players on the roster in 2022-2023

 

[wetcoast]

I would not but if I would the building would be full and i'd sell a ton of jerseys. Would make the team a cash cow since we aint winning jack S**** with two 16 million dollar players on the roster in 2022-2023

Sure because great players never lead their teams to a SC right?

50 million bucks on the rest of the team with a smart GM can make it work to pass up on these 2 guys, even at that price would be a huge mistake.

 

[Machinehead]

The cap prevents you from building a complete team anyway. You might as well start with some of the best players.

 

[Stamkos4life]

In this scenario: makar + mcdavid = $32 mil.

Matthews + marner + Tavares = $33.5 mil.

Having so few players taking up so much of the cap doesn't seem to be a recipe for success but considering how good mcdavid and makar are, I'd do it.

 

[wintersej]

Hard for the Bruins to say yes because they have so little in ELC talent to fill out the roster. Would do McJesus at 16 but the difference between McAvoy and Makar isn’t 7 million AAV.

 

[leafsfan5]

In this scenario: makar + mcdavid = $32 mil.

Matthews + marner + Tavares = $33.5 mil.

Having so few players taking up so much of the cap doesn't seem to be a recipe for success but considering how good mcdavid and makar are, I'd do it.

Leafs have 2 problems

1.) Tavares isn't worth the money
2.) It's all spent on one position

McDavid/Makar are both worth it and play different positions

 

[bobholly39]

Leafs have 2 problems

1.) Tavares isn't worth the money
2.) It's all spent on one position

McDavid/Makar are both worth it and play different positions

For some teams, making 32M$ in cap space will be incredibly difficult, as they'd have to move ~5-6+ assets to do that, and many of them they'd have to pay teams to take on. For others it would be quite a bit easier. The Leafs surprisingly are in the "quite easy" camp.

You trade Matthews and Marner away - both definitely have positive trade value (Matthews, a lot of value) and you're 2/3rds of the way there.

Trading Tavares is more difficult, especially with no retention - it would probably cost you assets, but probably less than whatever you get back for Matthews. So essentially you can swap out your big 3 for these 2 players fairly seamlessly, and probably gain some assets back in change.

Could also try and trade a different mix of players, obviously if you wanted to hold on to Matthews or Marner, but that is likely quite a bit more difficult

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Leafs have 2 problems

1.) Tavares isn't worth the money
2.) It's all spent on one position

McDavid/Makar are both worth it and play different positions

Yeah, to your 2nd point, if TML had a Marner-esque DMan (i.e. top 5 LD or RD), they'd be in much better shape.

 

[norrisnick]

Nope. Could make it work at $12M each probably, but that extra $4M each is another top 6 forward and/or top 4 D that you won't be able to keep/sign.

 

[obZen]

Yes. I would be entertained every game and I bet they would win at least 1-2 cups.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Nope.

 

[norrisnick]

I just tried this experiment with the Wings' roster. It results with 9 players on ELCs.

You would have to throw away talent every couple years as players outgrow ELCs. Or have the rest of the roster be filled with players that are legitimately only worth ~$2M AAV.

 

[Canovin]

Voted yes just for the exciting hockey alone. Potential to win multiple cups is a bonus

 

[BKarchitect]

Yes obviously. The first few seasons you’d have to be extremely frugal or hope to have a good farm system but by midway through when these two are at the peak of their powers, the cap will have escalated significantly and you’ll have a big-time window to rake in Cups.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Every "project" player or player who wants a "prove it" deal would line up to play for this team at a much lower than market rate.

 

[DrDangles]

No, depth wins cups. Impossible to build a deep team with two guys chewing up nearly 40% of your cap space.

I believe Sid and Geno are the highest paid duo to win cups in the cap era and they accounted for 25% of the cap during 16-17 in comparison.

 

[rypper]

Pretty easily yes.

 

[Voight]

Leafs have 2 problems

1.) Tavares isn't worth the money
2.) It's all spent on one position

McDavid/Makar are both worth it and play different positions

& elevate those who play with them

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

If I want to make mega bucks selling jerseys and have a couple of highly entertaining players as a bonus, sure.
If I want to win a Cup, no.

 

[Cup or Bust]

That would likely be the only 2 players in the NHL I would be willing to do that for.

 

[Stamkos4life]

Leafs have 2 problems

1.) Tavares isn't worth the money
2.) It's all spent on one position

McDavid/Makar are both worth it and play different positions

Solid points.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The title was confusing. Thought you meant 16M total for both,

Having 32M tied up in 2 players is almost impossible to ice a decent 2nd line and 2nd pair.