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

[Menzinger]

So, in other words, they have concerns in life other than "just making as much money as possible and not caring about the consequences." I think there's a word for that...

Because all players are fundamentally driven by the desire to make a massive amount of money.

The nature of the NHLs cba with it's guaranteed contracts pushes many players to the safety of the 8 year deal. Matthews has forgone that safety to bet on himself by wanting a medium term deal instead. One isn't any more or less "greedy" than the other.

 

[666]

None of that affects the leafs. If he gets injured and has to retire his contract is insured and doesn't count against the cap. There is no POSSIBLE gain for the leafs. It's bad for them no matter what. Matthews will almost assuredly make way more money than his direct comparables.

Of course there is possible gain for the Leafs. Matthews will be 31 when he'll need another contract. If his skills have diminished they might be able to sign him for less that he would made if he got an 8 year contract. Tavaras is 32, would you pay him as a top player now? Will Mack be worth $12.5M when he's 34? This might actually be the best thing that could have happened. Worst case is Matthews' risk pays off and he's still superstar in 5 years and we'll have to pay him more. That's a pretty good "worst case".

 

[francis246]

Thats a real stretch that players are scared to get paid what they are worth. Didn't Hagel just signed for 6.5mil and 8 yrs with only ONE 60pts or more season. Dont think Hagel was afraid to get paid. Foligno and Perry both signed for 4mil, don't think they were afraid to ask, although the circumstances are different in their cases.

1. Considering half the teams are in the red and even got a team who can't even pay rent and is playing in a college rink, the League is not making money.
2. When the League is not bringing in money like the NBA, MLB and NFL, NHL players can't demand to get paid like those three leagues. BC the league just dont generate the revenue. IF the league generate more revenue, the players will get paid more.
3. Your speculations on both Mack and AM are just something I have to disagree with and frankly, I have not seen anyone will think this way. What you are saying is that Mack is the villain for the other players and AM is the HERO. It could simply be that Mack is good with 12.6mil for 8 yrs bc thats what he thinks he is worth while AM thinks he is at 13.25mil for 4 yrs and would not go a penny less.

AM is overpaid but not by 2-3mil rather by just 700k based on McD signing a max contract today and McD is at least 25% better than AM in terms of productions in regular season, playoffs and individual awards.
Put it this way, if AM signed for 8 yrs, at least I will think it is a good deal. But for only 4 yrs, it is a deal. Nothing to sing praises about.

I didn’t say he’s a villain lol. I said he took less than what he’s worth for whatever reason be it that he wants colorado to stay competitive that’s fine. But the fact remains is he is a bit underpaid IMO.

Contracts and labour law has always been something I’ve been interested in, especially the last 4/5 years. I think it’s funny IPS said something about me sounding like a player agent. It’s a career I almost got into haha.

I completely understand my line of thinking may sound absurd but it’s actually not if you look at a players value in totality and not under the confines of a salary cap. Which is what’s happening here with Auston. I’ve said it a few times I don’t love it for the Leafs as an organization, I wish it was Cole Caufield or some other player who wanted to buck the trend. But it’s quite obvious we have a guy in Auston who doesn’t just see himself as just a hockey player, it’s his brand, it’s athletic ability, it’s everything. And I think he looks at other athletes and goes I’m one of the best in this league and I should be compensated that way. Probably not the best mindset to have for a hard cap league.

 

[Pantokrator]

Matthews is not the problem. They have to replace at least 3 D, likely 4 ,add some speed, see what Knies is to determine what they need in the top 6, find someone to play on the PK, fill out the bottom 6 and maybe find a goalie.

They have few draft picks and the 27th ranked (by nhl network) minor league system.

Thank you for the response. What would your solution be? What were you hoping to happen with Matthews?

 

[PromisedLand]

LOL so this comment on YouTube comments. Hilarious, sad and heart wrenching at the same time

 

[francis246]

The cap is based on revenue generated by the league.
It is what it is. The highest paid Rugby player in the World makes about 2.5mil a yr. Bc thats how much those leagues generate.
Kind of like the highest paid garbage man will also be paid a lot less than the highest paid Heart Surgeon. While some idiot posting stupid pranks on youtube, tiktok and such are making millions.

It is not about fair or not but how much do the sports generate and players are paid according to that.

I completely understand that, but I think there are a few players IE Matthews, who’s looking at it as the NHL should and could be doing more to generate more revenue.

For example Matthews does a GQ magazine interview and the comments on Twitter and on this board immediately question who he is as a person instead of viewing it as an exposure opportunity for the league. We should have more NHL players in movies, in shows, speaking freely in podcasts. We should be having international tournaments!! These are always to drive up revenue

 

[al secord]

LOL so this comment on YouTube comments. Hilarious, sad and heart wrenching at the same time

View attachment 738535

Random youtube comments are your thing now?

 

[Nineteen67]

Thank you for the response. What would your solution be? What were you hoping to happen with Matthews?

I would explore trading Nylander for a proven D man, but once again that opens another hole.

I would have liked to had Matthews signed for 5 or 6 yrs. If things go well they can always try to re-sign him.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

But there's plenty here trying to defend Matthews for doing it.

Is there any possible explanation for this other than Matthews being greedier than the typical star player?

I don't think there is.

And once we accept this objective fact that Matthews is greedier than the typical star player, where do you go from there? "Yeah, I acknowledge that they're greedy and selfish. And that greed and selfishness makes the team significantly less competitive. But I still love these guys. Go leafs go." I don't understand that mentality.

I need to share this with you:

"Objective statements are facts that can be verified by third parties while subjective. statements may or may not be entirely true as they are colored by the opinions of the speaker. The difference between these two important ideas is the difference between fact and opinion."

Although Auston Matthews might be the highest paid player next year, we really know nothing about his so called "greed". That is your opinion and it's a sort of a cynical one. You don't know anything about him. You really don't know if he is generous to his friends and family. Does he give to charity? You have no idea if he's turning his millions into: investments, ventures, greedy projects, banks, lawyers, financial wizards, blood diamonds, fyre festival II, human trafficking, money laundering, off shore investing, etc. This is professional sports where money (players with higher salaries) can at times drive success. Look at The Blue Jays when they won the world series. They had a super high pay roll. No one ever spoke selfishness and greed.

 

[Gabriel426]

I didn’t say he’s a villain lol. I said he took less than what he’s worth for whatever reason be it that he wants colorado to stay competitive that’s fine. But the fact remains is he is a bit underpaid IMO.

Contracts and labour law has always been something I’ve been interested in, especially the last 4/5 years. I think it’s funny IPS said something about me sounding like a player agent. It’s a career I almost got into haha.

I completely understand my line of thinking my sound absurd but it’s actually not if you look at a players value in totality and not under the confines of a salary cap. Which is what’s happening here with Auston. I’ve said it a few times I don’t love it for the Leafs as an organization, I wish it was Cole Caufield or some other player who wanted to buck the trend. But it’s quite obvious we have a guy in Auston who doesn’t just see himself as just a hockey player, it’s his brand, it’s athletic ability, it’s everything. And I think he looks at other athletes and goes I’m one of the best in this league and I should be compensated that way. Probably not the best mindset to have for a hard cap league.

I don’t think Mack is underpaid. I do think that the expectations of him demanding more and getting more were there bc of his accomplishments esp after the Cup win.

Now are top Hockey players underpaid compare to other pro sports in North America. Yes. Bc a normal starter in the NBA makes as much as top NHL guys. But it goes back to how much revenue the leagues are generating.

How AM sees himself and how much he thinks he should make is irrelevant if the Leafs don’t give in. As I just don’t see AM getting this deal with any other organizations. Maybe the AVV but definitely not the terms. Why is the Leafs the organization that always seem to try to set some precedent and end up blowing up in their faces a few yrs down the line. Is it just our luck that we got players who are just outliners compare to their peers or is it a MGT and culture thing? Why is Mack and Pastra willing to ink 8 yrs and AM won’t? Why ain’t our guys be better prepare in playoffs after years and years of failure which includes blowing a 3-1 series lead in the playoffs. Why do our guys rarely start on time in both regular season and playoffs?

 

[Gabriel426]

I completely understand that, but I think there are a few players IE Matthews, who’s looking at it as the NHL should and could be doing more to generate more revenue.

For example Matthews does a GQ magazine interview and the comments on Twitter and on this board immediately question who he is as a person instead of viewing it as an exposure opportunity for the league. We should have more NHL players in movies, in shows, speaking freely in podcasts. We should be having international tournaments!! These are always to drive up revenue

I agree with you on that.
But until then, top players like AM can’t demand more like NBA players.
Part of the reason why we don’t see NHL in mainstream medias is that, they are just not marketable bc most Americans don’t care about Hockey.
You look at Vegas who just won the Cup and being in Vegas. How many of those players were invited to talk shows like Fallon or Kimmel to talk about the team and promote the league?
It is also very hard to promote a sports where the top players usually sit on the bench for 40mins.

 

[AvroArrow]

For those losing their minds, how much is he now overpaid? 1? 3? 5 million?

Oh I already asked that question, the response is "I don't have to give you a number" "I don't have to answer that" literally

 

[Maple Leaf]

Can still trade, 4 year contract

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I honestly think this is about the headlines more than anything.

I'm convinced they would rather have the highest paid player in the world on the team, and not win a cup, than the opposite. Which is pretty weird considering the whole point of sports is to win. Except the Stanley Cup doesn't have a jersey number.

Matthews does.

And a lot of Matthews swag moves out the door on a daily basis. They've already proven they don't need to win a cup to make billions of dollars. They need star power to do that.

Having Matthews on the team gives them exactly that.

A big name celebrity franchise centreman. Someone they can market the piss out of. Being the highest paid player in the world is just another selling point.

Winning the cup with him on the team is a secondary goal, at best, to these guys.

 

[leafs in five]

Were the dealt? yes or no? did they return something to their team to help their rebuild? yes or no?

yes and yes and so can our stars return things to help us rebuild if and when

I honestly think this is about the headlines more than anything.

I'm convinced they would rather have the highest paid player in the world on the team, and not win a cup, than the opposite.

they would rather have the highest paid player in the world on their team than the lowest paid player in the world?

 

[Maple Leaf]

I honestly think this is about the headlines more than anything.

I'm convinced they would rather have the highest paid player in the world on the team, and not win a cup, than the opposite. Which is pretty weird considering the whole point of sports is to win. Except the Stanley Cup doesn't have a jersey number.

Matthews does.

And a lot of Matthews swag moves out the door on a daily basis. They've already proven they don't need to win a cup to make billions of dollars. They need star power to do that.

Having Matthews on the team gives them exactly that.

A big name celebrity franchise centreman. Someone they can market the piss out of. Being the highest paid player in the world is just another selling point.

Winning the cup with him on the team is a secondary goal, at best, to these guys.

They only care about $

 

[leafs in five]

only caring about the bottom line is a good reason to continue to employ the only hockey player motivated purely by greed

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

they would rather have the highest paid player in the world on their team than the lowest paid player in the world?

I got a good chuckle out of that.

The sad reality though is that I think it still holds true even with your amendment.

They'd rather have the highest paid player in the world on the team, and not win a cup, than have the lowest paid player in the world on the team and win one.

Scrubs don't sell jersey's.

I mean, I bought a Matthews jersey for my kid, so I'm glad he re-signed, but it kinda proves my point.

 

[leafs in five]

surely someone on this hypothetical cup winning team is good enough to sell some jerseys?

 

[Gallagbi]

I got a good chuckle out of that.

The sad reality though is that I think it still holds true even with your amendment.

They'd rather have the highest paid player in the world on the team, and not win a cup, than have the lowest paid player in the world on the team and win one.

Scrubs don't sell jersey's.

I mean, I bought a Matthews jersey for my kid, so I'm glad he re-signed, but it kinda proves my point.

Ticket prices increase every round. First round is 2x regular season (approx), second round is 3x, etc. Our playoffs for 4 rounds, 16 games, are pricier than the 40+ regular season games

Layer on extra's like food/drink, their restuarant, MLSE square and the general excitement of the city during wins and i cant even imagine how lucrative a cup would be for them

 

[myleafs]

Laughed out loud at this...tnx

 

[myleafs]

There is only ONE person on this team who is TRULY deserving of the "C" and that is Morgan Rielly

It seems so obvious

 

[ACC1224]

Ticket prices increase every round. First round is 2x regular season (approx), second round is 3x, etc. Our playoffs for 4 rounds, 16 games, are pricier than the 40+ regular season games

Layer on extra's like food/drink, their restuarant, MLSE square and the general excitement of the city during wins and i cant even imagine how lucrative a cup would be for them

Last year was 11.5k for us vs 7k regular season.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Of course there is possible gain for the Leafs. Matthews will be 31 when he'll need another contract. If his skills have diminished they might be able to sign him for less that he would made if he got an 8 year contract. Tavaras is 32, would you pay him as a top player now? Will Mack be worth $12.5M when he's 34? This might actually be the best thing that could have happened. Worst case is Matthews' risk pays off and he's still superstar in 5 years and we'll have to pay him more. That's a pretty good "worst case".

That scenario actually has the potential to be our worst nightmare. If at that point we sign him for the 8 years I'm guessing he'll be after and then his level of play goes down hill fast, we're f***ed. Considering that NHL players do inevitably fade away at some point, this is not an unlikely scenario and would make the Tavares contract everyone's complaining about seem like a massive bargain by comparison.

Cliff notes - pretty good "worst case" my ass.

 

[Gabriel426]

Last year was 11.5k for us vs 7k regular season.

For 6 playoffs home games?