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

[saltming]

So hfboards/leafs does not own the Leafs? My illusions are ruined.

 

[francis246]

.. if that is the case why are fans opinion germane to assessing the value of a contract if their logic is flawed to begin with? It sounds like in the bolded part you are trying to rationalize illogical bias?

Players who score are paid more, its simple logic. Can't remember the guys name but he was always on teams who ran deep into the playoffs, I think his name was Justin Williams. His nickname was Mr. Playoffs. Do fans who think Matty should get less because of his lack of team success also think JW should get more money because of his team success in the playoffs?

Thank you! I said exactly this. They won’t answer it though and I said Justin Williams too.

 

[thewave]

I would like to see trades and FA signings based on playoff performers. I bet it would work.

 

[WillyC]

Looking 5 years into the future… the narrative could be…

with 6 Rockets, 3 Harts, 2 Conn Smythes, and 2 Cups… can Toronto even afford to lock up Auston Matthews?

 

[LeafEgo]

Respectfully disagree.
GMs used to pay players in their 30's based on what they had done in the past. GMs got smarter and started to pay them based on what they expect them to do in the future.
When JT signed he was about to turn 28. Dubas likely knew that he would not be worth the AAV in the latter years of the contract, but expected him to perform at a high enough level in the earlier years to justify the terms of the contract.
You are entitled to your opinion that AM will get a higher AAV as he is turning 31, but to assume it as a fact is unrealistic.

I dont see any of that as a disagreement really.

I didn't share my opinion on what Matty would get on his next contract, I suggested that the Leafs paid him like a generational player (Ovi, Sid, McD), and if he lives up to that assessment its prudent to expect him to command a raise at 31.

Different contract lengths will make sense for different players at that age.

 

[Gabriel426]

Thank you! I said exactly this. They won’t answer it though and I said Justin Williams too.

How many players got a huge raise after their playoffs performance? Goodrow, Coleman, Nic Paul, Kadri…

Now I don’t think players are getting paid strictly from playoffs performances but to say that it is not a factor is quite foolish.

Should top players like AM be worth less due to their lack of playoffs stats, the answer is no but the question should be what is AM true value? And to determine that it needs comparable-Mack, as well as regular season and playoffs stats bc he has played in playoffs esp since it is not a small sample size like 6games in 7 yrs.

 

[Legion34]

Thats just false. There are a number of examples of players having a good playoffs and getting paid right afterwards.

Obviously every situation is different.

Not to the extent that regular season counting stats and trophies do.

You may get a little bump. But it’s not a driving factor at all

Adin hill just won the cup.

Sorokin went out in round 1.

Your post is barely readable.

Matthews signed his current deal back in February 2019. Since then only 2 contracts have surpassed matthews 11.634.

One was a Ufa signing in breadman, max term.

The other was Ufa Mackinnon after he won a cup, max term.

Not a single star rfa has signed for anywhere close to Austons contract. Add on that almost all of them signed for more than 5 years.

Now also consider not a single player, that I can find, has their contract as front loaded as matthews.

So for, what's most likely the most player friendly deal in the league, we got 1 season where matthews was top 2 in the league, ~2 top 10 seasons and 1 ~20th ranked season.

I would not say matthess earned his last contract and I very much doubt he'll earn this one.

14% AAV has been the norm for star- not generational players (price. Kopitar. Panarin etc) level players for years.

There are plenty of star RafA players who weren’t even Matthews level who had 14-16% AAV x 5 in the past.

you also can’t find a single player who has scored more goals since he entered the league.

So a completely unprecedented goal scoring Center takes 14% AAV.

Kinda makes sense right?

It’s kind of silly to say you cant find players who made what he makes.

You also cant find players that have done what he has done

The guy is 2 goals behind ovy at 25 with a few more games played.

Thats just false. There are a number of examples of players having a good playoffs and getting paid right afterwards.

Obviously every situation is different.

Not to the extent that regular season counting stats and trophies do.

You may get a little bump. But it’s not a driving factor at all

Adin hill just won the cup.

Sorokin went out in round 1.

Your post is barely readable.

Matthews signed his current deal back in February 2019. Since then only 2 contracts have surpassed matthews 11.634.

One was a Ufa signing in breadman, max term.

The other was Ufa Mackinnon after he won a cup, max term.

Not a single star rfa has signed for anywhere close to Austons contract. Add on that almost all of them signed for more than 5 years.

Now also consider not a single player, that I can find, has their contract as front loaded as matthews.

So for, what's most likely the most player friendly deal in the league, we got 1 season where matthews was top 2 in the league, ~2 top 10 seasons and 1 ~20th ranked season.

I would not say matthess earned his last contract and I very much doubt he'll earn this one.

14% AAV has been the norm for star- not generational players (price. Kopitar. Panarin etc) level players for years.

There are plenty of star RafA players who weren’t even Matthews level who had 14-16% AAV x 5 in the past.

you also can’t find a single player who has scored more goals since he entered the league.

So a completely unprecedented goal scoring Center takes 14% AAV.

Kinda makes sense right?

It’s kind of silly to say you cant find players who made what he makes.

You also cant find players that have done what he has done

The guy is 2 goals behind ovy at 25 with a few more games played.

 

[Hellcat]

Thank you! I said exactly this. They won’t answer it though and I said Justin Williams too.

Great minds think alike, fools seldom differ...

 

[thewave]

Remember when Matt Stajan was our 1C and we prayed for a true #1C ?

We finally got one who, one who commit the first 12 years of his career to Toronto and also happens to be one of the best players in the world. And people are bitching about it.

Like what did some of you think ? He was going to sign for 12? When he was a pending UFA with a full NMC. He could have easily forced Tre's hand and asked for a ridiculous number like 14 or walked straight to UFA where he would've got it, but he didn't.

So sick of people whining about this.

I don't think this is accurate. People love AM here. Everyone just wanted a better deal and for the Leafs not to have to pay a premium because Dubas mistakes.

Now we overpaid a little but if you are going to overpay you do it to your 1C. Just wait for the Marner thread when he is up, thats where you are going to see some pretty outwardly harsh opinions.

The level of whining doesn't really exist.

 

[Kurtz]

I don't think this is accurate. People love AM here. Everyone just wanted a better deal and for the Leafs not to have to pay a premium because Dubas mistakes.

Now we overpaid a little but if you are going to overpay you do it to your 1C. Just wait for the Marner thread when he is up, thats where you are going to see some pretty outwardly harsh opinions.

The level of whining doesn't really exist.

I think it's more accurate to say that we didn't get the level of discount that guys like Mcdavid and Mckinnon gave their teams rather than saying we overpaid.

Matthews gets $15m/year as a UFA easy so at $13.25 it's not an overpayment as such.

 

[thewave]

I think it's more accurate to say that we didn't get the level of discount that guys like Mcdavid and Mckinnon gave their teams rather than saying we overpaid.

Matthews gets $15m/year as a UFA easy so at $13.25 it's not an overpayment as such.

I agree with you actually. That's probably the best way to look at it and put it.

Note: Brave Browser allows me to use this site on mobile. Dreamy stuff

 

[ToneDog]

I think it's more accurate to say that we didn't get the level of discount that guys like Mcdavid and Mckinnon gave their teams rather than saying we overpaid.

Matthews gets $15m/year as a UFA easy so at $13.25 it's not an overpayment as such.

Who's giving Matty $15m/year ? I can only think of Philly if they were desperate enough and if they gave him $15m, they can kiss their SC chances good bye. I mean he can't with at 11.634 playing with Marner, Nylander and Tavares. What's he gonna win with Philly at $15m??

 

[Kurtz]

Who's giving Matty $15m/year ? I can only think of Philly if they were desperate enough and if they gave him $15m, they can kiss their SC chances good bye. I mean he can't with at 11.634 playing with Marner, Nylander and Tavares. What's he gonna win with Philly at $15m??

Any American team that wants to sell tickets would offer him that or more.

Would he have a better shot at winning the cup on a team like that? Probably not, but we're talking about strictly money.

 

[egd27]

Very different caliber of players. One is closer to a Seguin and the other an Ovi. If you're paying a player the highest price point in the league you should be expecting them to still be a top player in their early 30s.

Which one is closer to Ovi ?

 

[myleafs]

It perfectly suited your idiotic comment.

you sure told me...that a boy lol

 

[Stephen]

Like you, I really think the Leafs will extend AM in 4 yrs with an 8 yrs deal. Lets just hope Leafs win a Cup and treat that as a reward contract.

There’s no special reason to extend Matthews for 8 years at 31 other than to satisfy some weird notion of security. In fact it would probably be diminishing returns at that point.

If he’s career Mr Leaf, holding all the records, our Bergeron style lifer you could just sign him to 1 and 2 year deals to take him to the end of his career. Very much like Mats Sundin at the end of his career.

 

[MSZ]

 

[Gary Nylund]

I mean when people are saying he's motivated by nothing other than greed the distinction is kind of erased

I agree, calling him greedy is uncalled for. I think it's fair to say that he's out to max his earnings and he sure isn't doing the team any favors but greedy, that's just name calling for no good reason.

I know we gave disagreed in the past but I fully agree with you in this thread.

It's crazy to see the rationalization and the lack of logic accompanying it.

Paying your stars more than every other team is a huge disadvantage.

I'm always interested in discussing hockey and whether or not people agree with me really doesn't matter. As long as people are respectful of varying opinions and don't descend into name calling, it's all good. And yes I think Matthews is overpaid, so is Marner and it's not fun to think about what Marner's next contract might be. And now it seems like we might lose Nylander who's been better bang for the buck in the playoffs than M&M, overall it's not a pretty picture. Honestly, considering we're overpaying everyone else, I'd rather even pay Nylander 10 million a year than lose him. He's worth 9.5 or thereabouts so f*** it.

I'm not angry, I'm excited for next season. You probably don't realize it but this coming season will be our best chance to win the cup in the modern era. I do however feel sorry for all of you haters because if we do win you won't be able to enjoy the win as much. You're now stuck with either being wrong about Marner and Matthews or the Leafs winning.

First of all the regular season is meaningless to you now as you've put all of your eggs into the playoffs so you can't really enjoy that as much. But now you'll actually hope that the Leafs lose so that you were right to spend thousands and thousands of posts and hours bitching and whining about Matthews and Marner. I really do feel sorry for you because if they actually win you will have ruined it for yourself. Oh, you'll say it was all about the playoffs and that you were just waiting for them to step up and you'll pretend that you're just as happy but it won't change the fact that you've wasted an enormous amount of time being a hater. And the proof is what happened just a few months ago when we won in the first round. You instantly became the biggest homer for exactly 3 games and then went back to whining.

I'm not angry, I just feel really sorry for you and the rest of the haters. We have a really good chance this season. If we fail in the playoffs again you and your kind will be able to feel good about yourselves which is pathetic, but it's already too late for you to really enjoy this season if we do win it all. And that's really sad, for you.

Pretty much everything you say here is wrong and you seem deranged. Take a chill pill buddy, no make that two chill pills.

The only thing I’ll say about @Gary Nylund is I’ve never seen someone flip flop about a player (Marner) as much as him LOL. But I’m general he’s good poster I enjoy my interactions with him even if we disagree sometimes.

I think saying I flip flop a lot is an overstatement. Sure I've changed my opinion of Marner a couple of times, but just a couple. I also think it's completely natural to adjust my evaluation of players as the games are played we have more information.

Marner was my favorite Maple Leaf for a while there, I've always liked slick playmakers and he sure is that. Then I was really disappointed in the way he played in a few playoffs and after the MTL series, I even suggested that we should consider see what we could get for him in a trade. A ton of people hated on me for that but whatever. Then he played so well the next season, and I thought he played well in the playoffs against TB, then he had yet another great regular season and I got to the point where I was glad that we never traded him. Then he was so bad against Florida, especially game 3 which was just a pitiful performance in the most important game of the year that his stock fell a lot in my eyes.

He's always been a great regular season performer, money in the bank. Playoffs though, he's been so up and down and considering his atrocious cap hit, I expect better and since the playoffs for me are much more important than the regular season, yeah I feel like Marner is the proverbial lunch bag letdown. I leave the door open for him winning me over again, but it's not going happen in the regular season, that's for damn sure.

There’s no special reason to extend Matthews for 8 years at 31 other than to satisfy some weird notion of security. In fact it would probably be diminishing returns at that point.

If he’s career Mr Leaf, holding all the records, our Bergeron style lifer you could just sign him to 1 and 2 year deals to take him to the end of his career. Very much like Mats Sundin at the end of his career.

Oh I couldn't agree more. But like the poster you're responding to said, I fear that extending him for 8 years will be exactly what we will do. It'll be perhaps the biggest "bendover" in NHL history and I hope it doesn't happen but ...

 

[thewave]

I appreciate he did not hold us hostage at the end of the season. He got himself a good deal and the team just paid up. When its your top player this sort of thing happens depending on the team and situation.

Overall gotta say I am glad this is done.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I agree, calling him greedy is uncalled for. I think it's fair to say that he's out to max his earnings and he sure isn't doing the team any favors but greedy, that's just name calling for no good reason.


I'm always interested in discussing hockey and whether or not people agree with me really doesn't matter. As long as people are respectful of varying opinions and don't descend into name calling, it's all good. And yes I think Matthews is overpaid, so is Marner and it's not fun to think about what Marner's next contract might be. And now it seems like we might lose Nylander who's been better bang for the buck in the playoffs than M&M, overall it's not a pretty picture. Honestly, considering we're overpaying everyone else, I'd rather even pay Nylander 10 million a year than lose him. He's worth 9.5 or thereabouts so f*** it.


Pretty much everything you say here is wrong and you seem deranged. Take a chill pill buddy, no make that two chill pills.


I think saying I flip flop a lot is an overstatement. Sure I've changed my opinion of Marner a couple of times, but just a couple. I also think it's completely natural to adjust my evaluation of players as the games are played we have more information.

Marner was my favorite Maple Leaf for a while there, I've always liked slick playmakers and he sure is that. Then I was really disappointed in the way he played in a few playoffs and after the MTL series, I even suggested that we should consider see what we could get for him in a trade. A ton of people hated on me for that but whatever. Then he played so well the next season, and I thought he played well in the playoffs against TB, then he had yet another great regular season and I got to the point where I was glad that we never traded him. Then he was so bad against Florida, especially game 3 which was just a pitiful performance in the most important game of the year that his stock fell a lot in my eyes.

He's always been a great regular season performer, money in the bank. Playoffs though, he's been so up and down and considering his atrocious cap hit, I expect better and since the playoffs for me are much more important than the regular season, yeah I feel like Marner is the proverbial lunch bag letdown. I leave the door open for him winning me over again, but it's not going happen in the regular season, that's for damn sure.


Oh I couldn't agree more. But like the poster you're responding to said, I fear that extending him for 8 years will be exactly what we will do. It'll be perhaps the biggest "bendover" in NHL history and I hope it doesn't happen but ...

Leverage would be gone by then...we're not in the making Matthews rich business either. He took this deal because it worked out well for him, 8 years at this aav would have been smart money for him.

At 31, if his asks are stupid, it's easier to say "Yea, thanks bud, good luck out there" and it'll likely be one of the few times in his life he's gonna be rejected / declined. Team has to do what is best for them at that point.

 

[thewave]

Leverage would be gone by then...we're not in the making Matthews rich business either. He took this deal because it worked out well for him, 8 years at this aav would have been smart money for him.

At 31, if his asks are stupid, it's easier to say "Yea, thanks bud, good luck out there" and it'll likely be one of the few times in his life he's gonna be rejected / declined. Team has to do what is best for them at that point.

With this economy. I could see this actually backfiring on him bad. I would have locked the full 8. There could be lower caps in 4 years

 

[BallardEra]

The guy is 2 goals behind ovy at 25 with a few more games played.

Sucks that Ovie missed that first season to the lock out.

 

[Menzinger]

With this economy. I could see this actually backfiring on him bad. I would have locked the full 8. There could be lower caps in 4 years

Unlikely. The cap continued to grow in the wake of the 08 crisis. There was one year of paused growth and then continued on rising. A lower cap would be historically unprecedented.

 

[IPS]

K really though, where the f*** were all the people who yapped non-stop about Matthews leaving for certain?

Not enough crow being eaten at that front - you guys trolled way too much with BS.

Main board fans doing it was whatever, they're idiots. But we had a large collection of fellow Leafs fans who made it their mission to try and convince the rest of Leafs nation that Matthews was gonna leave no matter what.

I appreciate he did not hold us hostage at the end of the season. He got himself a good deal and the team just paid up. When its your top player this sort of thing happens depending on the team and situation.

Overall gotta say I am glad this is done.

He did the same with his last contract too.

Very quiet negotiation and little to no drama.

Mitch's negotiation was the nightmare one. Prostituting for offer-sheets, threatening to go play in Europe, and the Dreger shills posting non-stop BS was so ridiculous.

 

[IPS]

Dude, think. They aren't pathetic because they have an opinion, they are pathetic because they constantly flip-flop that opinion and whine. It's the whining and flip-flopping that is pathetic.

What's pathetic is you pretending you're above it while spending all your posting time whining about their opinions.