Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign F Auston Matthews to extension (4 years, $13.25M AAV)

[Dekes For Days]

2021-22 he was 6th in points
2020-21 - he was 5th in points
2022-23 - he was 22nd
2019-20 - he was 9th
2018-19 - he was 42nd

So...that was false.

No, it just shows how bad raw point rank is for accurately representing the quality of a player.

 

[Sypher04]

Just because the people you've talked to don't understand that what players make has a direct impact on the organization to build a winning team around them, doesn't mean it's not an obvious truth.

His PTS/60 indicates that if it was a down season, then it's one of six down seasons out of the last seven.

Seems to me more like 5 out of the last 6 seasons are the baseline and is where we should expect him to be but instead, he's being paid based as if the one outlier season was his baseline.

View attachment 738475

Never said it wasn't a down season. I said that his previous seasons were so good that 44G/94PTS pace is considered a poor season for him.

Edit: Nevermind, misread what you said.

I'd say Matthews was generally very good last year, but he was hampered by injury and his shot didn't look as lethal as we'd seen for the previous 2 seasons, leading to his lowest shooting percentage by a good margin of his career. Willing to bet it bounces back with health

 

[myleafs]

the one neat thing hear is that is that he'd only have to average 25 goals and 90 points a season over the next 5 years to become the franchise leader in goals and points (Marners got a good shot at points as well if he sticks around)

40 goal average would have him as the Leafs 1st 500 goal scorer (technically 1 goal off)

also only 12 goals and 33 points off the playoff leader in points and goals as well.

Could see some cool history in the making over the next few seasons.

yay more individual accolades with a very good chance of zero playoff success

 

[Dekes For Days]

Honestly, it’s absolutely baffling that our shots from the blue line and perimeter get stopped more often than not.
Fortunately we don’t have any highly paid players going hard to the net, risking injury, in order to cash in on some chances.

Our high paid players go hard to the net and live in high danger areas nonstop. Funny enough, the most we've used the perimeter was the Tampa series last year, that we won.

 

[AvroArrow]

Main boards are having a melt down lmao

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I'll tell you why fans of other teams are salty about this signing:

They lost Gaudreau and Tkachuk in CGY. WPG might be losing some of their top talent.

Toronto re-signed their top talent.

 

[Sypher04]

I thought maybe you got the years mixed up or I misremembered some stats, but you were definitely false/wrong.

He had a Hart / Rocket one year but otherwise has been outperformed by his peers.

No, I definitely was not. You can say your opinion is he wasn't top 2 those years, but I can make the argument he was. As I said, subjective. You posted league ranking in the points race as if it's some defacto argument for who's had the best season. That's a joke.

In the two seasons I suggested he was top 2:
1 season Hart win, 1 season Hart Finalist (McDavid won)
1 season Ted Lindsay win, 1 season Ted Lindsay Finalist (McDavid won)
2 season Rocket Richard winner.
Top 10 in Selke in MVP season.
3rd in P/GP in his MVP season, .02 behind Kucherov (2nd).
6th in P/GP in the previous seaason, .11 behind Panarin (3rd)

But please do continue to act like me saying he was 2nd best player in those 2 years is objectively wrong.

 

[myleafs]

There are those that will find the negatives in this. The reason being.. they find negatives with everything, generally being negative people. It's pretty clear reading through the posts. This has nothing to do with logic, it's just they are negative people.

Personally, I don't mind this deal at all. I'm not tied to Matthews long-term, and am concerned about his ability to physically be healthy enough to perform when needed, and maybe just overall concerned about his ability to raise his game when needed. I'm patient enough to not want to throw very talented players overboard yet, but would say this gives us enough time to make future decisions. He's been THE best goal scorer in the league, since he joined, and it's hard to replace that, and he's rounded out his game well too. But, we need his wrists healthy, and we need his BEST in the playoffs, and we haven't seen that yet.

I like that there are no NMC/NTC in this deal. If it's not working out for us, he'll be moved, and that's a positive for the Leafs.

He's a star, and an incredible goal scorer when healthy.. but he hasn't always been healthy, and that's happened too often. We have five more years of control, so if it doesn't work out for us, we can still trade him for a randsome, with two to three years left on the contract.

I get the desire to have him controlled for 1 + 8 years... but I think given his wrist problems, and our lack of playoff success, and likelihood an 8 year commitment from Matty likely means NMC, that this is the better outcome for us.

Bolded is one of the stupidest things Ive read on here.

 

[AvroArrow]

I just don't think he really deserved the highest cap hit in the league. He wasn't really even a top 5 guy last year.

You can make the case that 4 years removes a lot of risk for us compared to the 8 year deal but we could have made the aav reflect that.

Give it another 2 years, he won't be the highest paid or highest cap hit anymore. These things are always changing in sports, Mahomes signed the biggest deal in NFL history, now it's Justin Herbert. Who's a good player but not even on the same planet as a guy like Mahomes, or Hurts or Allen.

It's not that big of a deal. McDavid will easily be making 14M+ on his next deal, remember he signed his current deal 6 years ago.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Great message sent to subscriber base Matty .. well played .. i had heard different things about you from different folk .. but it is crystal clear what you are all about now .. there is no I in TEAM Matty .. but well stroked taking care of yourself to da extreme .. and ps are you a mountain climber because winning a Cup takes a lot more than what you got to offer ... better keep up some serious rock star play my friend as us subscribers will be sure to let you know

 

[ACC1224]

Unfortunately, there is a cap and what players make impacts the depth. By going short term, Leafs won't get any benefit from a rising cap because he will be milking it the next time he rings the bell Take Draisaitl for example who has been making 8.5m for years, which is huge for the Oilers. Hell even McDavid at $12.5m is a bargain compared to 34.

My post was in reference to your 'goodwill' comment, I understand there is a cap.

 

[keonsbitterness]

I think I have to get out of the archaic mindset that these players should and will do anything to help win a Cup, as opposed to wanting to make as much money as possible over what is a short career in the grand scheme of things, with a Cup win as a secondary goal.

All things being equal (even though they never really are), a player has a 1/32 chance of winning a Cup every year, and no one plays 32 years. One can argue that math makes winning the Cup a secondary goal.

When a good QB in his prime comes up for a new contract in the NFL, they almost always match or beat the current highest-paid QB. I think we had better get used to that mindset in the NHL.

Connor McDavid is coming off a season where he scored 64 goals 153 points & has 5 X Art Ross (league scoring leader) 4 X Ted Lindsay (league MVP) + 3 X Hart trophies + 1 X Rocket Richard .

Leafs were put in a position to pay Auston Matthews more than McDavid (the best player on the planet) or let him walk away, because off the past actions of a now fired GM.

Auston AAV of $13.25 mil > McDavid $12.5 mil & his Cap % of 15.87 % > McDavid of 14.28 CH% beginning in 2024-25.

Only in Toronto would Matthews be viewed as more valuable and therefor more costly than McDavid.

The more you overpay your players the harder it is to win the Stanley Cup in a Salary Cap World.

What happened to your narrative that a REAL GM like Treliving would hold the line? You change like the wind.

Online persona eh, OK that figures I guess. I feel like the world is getting dumber by the minute.

The literal world is dead, Gary. You gotta learn to peel back some layers.

I thought his job was to win a cup?

By that standard, the majority of players in NHL history are failures.

 

[ACC1224]

I just don't think he really deserved the highest cap hit in the league. He wasn't really even a top 5 guy last year.

You can make the case that 4 years removes a lot of risk for us compared to the 8 year deal but we could have made the aav reflect that.

Rarely is the highest paid guy the best player in the league. It won't be until McDavid re-signs and will last until the next big name tops him.

 

[myleafs]

I've talked to 5 people now in the real world and everyone thought the deal was fine.
Most people don't really care what the players make, they just want the team to win.

This board, IMO isn't a good representation of the fanbase.

wow a whole 5 people..it must be true. I have also talked to more than 5 people who stated the exact opposite of what you stated so......

 

[francis246]

What are the odds that Draisaitl signs for fewer than 8 years?

Idk but who cares if he does? Idk only time will tell maybe he leaves EDM as a UFA.

 

[Puckstuff]

Are the Leafs the ones to sign him to this 8-year, $100 million deal?

Depends on performance.

That’s why I sort of like this deal. We are guaranteed to get his prime years. Most players start to decline and it’s not like Matthews hasn’t any injury history. Good deal for the leafs.
In addition to that, if the model of paying 3-4 players half the cap needs to change, then we are not tied down to Matthews.

 

[WTFMAN99]

No, I definitely was not. You can say your opinion is he wasn't top 2 those years, but I can make the argument he was. As I said, subjective. You posted league ranking in the points race as if it's some defacto argument for who's had the best season. That's a joke.

In the two seasons I suggested he was top 2:
1 season Hart win, 1 season Hart Finalist (McDavid won)
1 season Ted Lindsay win, 1 season Ted Lindsay Finalist (McDavid won)
2 season Rocket Richard winner.
Top 10 in Selke in MVP season.
3rd in P/GP in his MVP season, .02 behind Kucherov (2nd).
6th in P/GP in the previous seaason, .11 behind Panarin (3rd)

But please do continue to act like me saying he was 2nd best player in those 2 years is objectively wrong.

Post seasons / years with these stats.

Give it another 2 years, he won't be the highest paid or highest cap hit anymore. These things are always changing in sports, Mahomes signed the biggest deal in NFL history, now it's Justin Herbert. Who's a good player but not even on the same planet as a guy like Mahomes, or Hurts or Allen.

It's not that big of a deal. McDavid will easily be making 14M+ on his next deal, remember he signed his current deal 6 years ago.

What's crazy is McDavid in 2 seasons typically produces so much more than Matthews, it would take a 3rd so-so season from Matthews to bridge the gap.

Matthews got that Hart because he was the first 60 goal scorer in basically forever but McDavid still outproduced him on points.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Never said it wasn't a down season. I said that his previous seasons were so good that 44G/94PTS pace is considered a poor season for him.

Edit: Nevermind, misread what you said.

I'd say Matthews was generally very good last year, but he was hampered by injury and his shot didn't look as lethal as we'd seen for the previous 2 seasons, leading to his lowest shooting percentage by a good margin of his career. Willing to bet it bounces back with health

Health is the big question with him. If he's healthy, motivated and plays like 2021-2022 Matthews in the playoffs, nobody will be complaining about him being overpaid.

Main boards are having a melt down lmao

LMAO thank you for this, I haven't been over there in ages but sounds like it's worth a look today. )

 

[Oscar Peterson]

Give it another 2 years, he won't be the highest paid or highest cap hit anymore. These things are always changing in sports, Mahomes signed the biggest deal in NFL history, now it's Justin Herbert. Who's a good player but not even on the same planet as a guy like Mahomes, or Hurts or Allen.

It's not that big of a deal. McDavid will easily be making 14M+ on his next deal, remember he signed his current deal 6 years ago.

I'd be shocked if McDavid's next contract doesn't start with at least a 15, if not even more. The gap between McDavid and number 2 in the league is magnitudes higher than the gap between 2/3 - 15 lol

 

[Sypher04]

Post seasons / years with these stats.

Are you serious right now?

2021-22 Hart win, 2020-21 Hart Finalist (McDavid won)
2021-22 Ted Lindsay win, 2020-21 Ted Lindsay Finalist (McDavid won)
2020-21 & 2021-22 Rocket Richard winner.
2021-22 top 10 in Selke
2021-22 3rd in P/GP, .02 behind Kucherov (2nd).
2020-21 6th in P/GP, .11 behind Panarin (3rd)

If you mean "post season" as in playoffs, then you know damn well that isn't what we were discussing as evidenced by your first reply to me spouting his league ranking in the season point race for each of the last 5 years.

 

[KPower]

So I guess this means Marner gets 4 years at $12.5.

 

[Burnie97]

I don't get into these arguments usually but...



Also any comparison to McDavid is silly. He signed his contract 5 or 6 years ago. When he re ups... he's going to be the highest paid by a mile again.

The cap is going up a lot by then too.

MacKinnon did do Colorado a huge favour though but that helps coming off a Stanley cup. Can't really argue that one.

Again like I said earlier they can reasses later on. By 31 both him and the team may want to move on depending on what happens by then anyway.

It probably would of made more sense for Matthews to take a longer deal depending on how his health plays out but only time will tell.

He's still a number 1 C and not someone we can afford to lose.

As for the other 3 of the core 4 that's up for debate.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Are you serious right now?

2021-22 Hart win, 2020-21 Hart Finalist (McDavid won)
2021-22 Ted Lindsay win, 2020-21 Ted Lindsay Finalist (McDavid won)
2020-21 & 2021-22 Rocket Richard winner.
2021-22 top 10 in Selke
2021-22 3rd in P/GP, .02 behind Kucherov (2nd).
2020-21 6th in P/GP, .11 behind Panarin (3rd)

If you mean "post season" as in playoffs, then you damn well that isn't what we were discussing.

So all of this stuff happened in 21-22 for the most part, his best season by far, I won't even really debate it, he was awesome. Gary touched on this, he's kinda been paid more as if this season was a baseline versus the outlier. If he could do this on the regular, okay.

20-21 - He was in the Canadian division, there is definitely an asterisk here, tied for 4th overall in points, Point per game is ehhh, I try not to look at that, I value actual production vs things like expected goals for etc, I value actual goals for. Would I be psyched if we won a cup this year? Yea I would take it but it was weird.

 

[Sypher04]

I don't get into these arguments usually but...



Also any comparison to McDavid is silly. He signed his contract 5 or 6 years ago. When he re ups... he's going to be the highest paid by a mile again.

The cap is going up a lot by then too.

MacKinnon did do Colorado a huge favour though but that helps coming off a Stanley cup. Can't really argue that one.

Again like I said earlier they can reasses later on. By 31 both him and the team may want to move on depending on what happens by then anyway.

It probably would of made more sense for Matthews to take a longer deal depending on how his health plays out but only time will tell.

He's still a number 1 C and not someone we can afford to lose.

As for the other 3 of the core 4 that's up for debate.

And those stats are AFTER an injury filled season where his shooting percentage dropped from 17 & 18 percentage the previous years to just 12 this past season.

 

[Dion TheFluff]

yay more individual accolades with a very good chance of zero playoff success

I'll guess we'll wait and see. Got a 5 year window now.