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

[Gary Nylund]

PPG the last two seasons... 1.22, 1.15, 1.11. One of those is MacKinnon, one is Marner, and one is Matthews. But which is which?

This has nothing to do with my post you're replying to so my answer is - who cares?

Hmmm at the time mcD signed his contract his cap hit was a higher % of the cap.
This percentage of the team cap seems to be the thing now.
That said I wonder if this is a pridham thing? He's a cap genius, so is he saying we can allocate X % of the cap to the stars and that should allow us to fill the slots around them with adequate players?
I hate the cap. I also really don't care what players make, though I understand the ramifications, because if I always want the highest wage available to me. I mean once he's set for life, take a discount then.

As for fried CPU, PTLD is a thing hahahaha

I maybe an optimist but I think they will figure it out this year. Will they win a cup? but I think some playoff success is coming.

I wish I could share your optimism. I would also say that whether Matthews makes 40 or 50 million over the next 5 years or whatever has no impact on him being set for life or not, I'd say he's there already either way.

 

[notdoneyet]

The Sens forum is hilarious. l just read something to the effect that the Matthews deal is great for Ottawa because Auston doesn't have it in him to compete in the playoffs.

They aren’t wrong

 

[saltming]

This has nothing to do with my post you're replying to so my answer is - who cares?


I wish I could share your optimism. I would also say that whether Matthews makes 40 or 50 million over the next 5 years or whatever has no impact on him being set for life or not, I'd say he's there already either way.

Ya optimism is a rare thing and most likely I'm wrong but I don't like being down Hahaha.
Ya 50 million wouldn't help me at all Hahaha but ya he is set up for his life one way or another

 

[Gabriel426]

Matthews goal scoring ability will always trump his playoff woes in contract negotiations. That’s just the way it is. Doesn’t mean I agree with it. Same thing with McDavid his ability to produce at a high clip will always trump lack of playoff success. When it comes to those types of players owners are looking at overall value to the club and they aren’t going to try and die on the playoff production or lack of playoff success hill. Teams make most of their revenue in the regular season. That’s what they are paying those superstars for.

1. You can’t compare McD and Drai to AM and MM when it comes to playoffs bc two of them actually produced and led their team to the Conf Finals and also past the 1st round more than once. If the merit is winning a Cup than Eichel is the best of the them since he won a Cup in his first Playoffs.
Playoffs is also about how the players played and produced.
2. My question was if AM signed for 11mil/8yrs does that diminish him as a player bc he is taking 11mil.

 

[BallardEra]

Like I said, "Matty is one of the best goal scorers to play the game". Unfortunately McDavid has found another gear when it comes to goal scoring so unless Matty regains his form, I see McDavid widening the gap. McDavid is on another level the last few years. Not many stars have been able to keep up.

It will be interesting to see if this is indeed McDavid's final goal scoring form or if it's his Crosby "hey, I want to show I can win a Rocket too" move.

 

[Gabriel426]

Like I said, "Matty is one of the best goal scorers to play the game". Unfortunately McDavid has found another gear when it comes to goal scoring so unless Matty regains his form, I see McDavid widening the gap. McDavid is on another level the last few years. Not many stars have been able to keep up.

That’s the thing, it seems like McD either is getting better or just starting to fully realize his potential. He just seemed to be getting better and better while the rest of the league are getting better but it is more in line with natural progression.

 

[pcruz]

1. You can’t compare McD and Drai to AM and MM when it comes to playoffs bc two of them actually produced and led their team to the Conf Finals and also past the 1st round more than once. If the merit is winning a Cup than Eichel is the best of the them since he won a Cup in his first Playoffs.
Playoffs is also about how the players played and produced.
2. My question was if AM signed for 11mil/8yrs does that diminish him as a player bc he is taking 11mil.

For your first point, you would very clearly argue that despite winning a cup, Eichel is in way a better or greater player, or otherwise more deserving of higher pay than McDavid or Draisaitl.

Right now, Jack is on a $10 million per year contract and Draisaitl is at $8.5 million. Could you possibly make the argument that Draisaitl is actually worth paying less?

No.

Therefore, the most common argument against Matthews shrivels up and dies right there. The measure of a player's valuation in terms of contract, is not winning, but how well he performs.

There is a quantitative measure for how well a player performs, and we award it at the end of every season - year end awards.

Matthews has earned more of these than other similarly paid athletes - Pastrnak, MacKinnon, Panarin, Tavares, Marner, Kane, Toews, Bobrovsky, Eichel, Tkachuck, Huberdeau, anyone else with a $10million or higher AAV.....with the exception of McDavid, and of course, Draisaitl.

Of those players listed, Matthews is youngest (drafted at the same time as Tkachuck), and has achieved more and greater personal success.
He is not only a Richard Trophy favourite every season, but plays at a Selke level simultaneously.

Of those players listed, none can even begin to argue they are as strong offensively and defensively as Matthews is.

 

[Gabriel426]

It will be interesting to see if this is indeed McDavid's final goal scoring form or if it's his Crosby "hey, I want to show I can win a Rocket too" move.

Most of McD goals are not from great shot like Ovie and AM but more from creating space and making the goalie lose position. It is like Marner on steroid in terms of creating space.

 

[Gabriel426]

For your first point, you would very clearly argue that despite winning a cup, Eichel is in way a better or greater player, or otherwise more deserving of higher pay than McDavid or Draisaitl.

Right now, Jack is on a $10 million per year contract and Draisaitl is at $8.5 million. Could you possibly make the argument that Draisaitl is actually worth paying less?

No.

Therefore, the most common argument against Matthews shrivels up and dies right there. The measure of a player's valuation in terms of contract, is not winning, but how well he performs.

There is a quantitative measure for how well a player performs, and we award it at the end of every season - year end awards.

Matthews has earned more of these than other similarly paid athletes - Pastrnak, MacKinnon, Panarin, Tavares, Marner, Kane, Toews, Bobrovsky, Eichel, Tkachuck, Huberdeau, anyone else with a $10million or higher AAV.....with the exception of McDavid, and of course, Draisaitl.

Of those players listed, Matthews is youngest (drafted at the same time as Tkachuck), and has achieved more and greater personal success.
He is not only a Richard Trophy favourite every season, but plays at a Selke level simultaneously.

Of those players listed, none can even begin to argue they are as strong offensively and defensively as Matthews is.

Mack had performed better than AM in the playoffs. Kane, Toews and Kopitar were on rewards contract after winning Cups.

Like I asked, does it diminish AM's status as a player if he is signed a 11mil/8yrs deal.

To me, it doesn't. AM can sign for the max or 8mil/8yrs. He will most likley be in the mix for top 3 goals scorer in the league and as much as I hope he turns the corner, he will most likely underperform in the playoffs compare to his regular season. The only way he can flip that is to perform in the playoffs. Like Tkachuk. He was pretty much a non playoffs factor til this past playoffs where he just seemed to either scored or created the Game winning goal.

I can see why some are trying to justify AM's contracts but not to the extend of saying the rest of the players are underpaid as they didn't have the balls to ask for more....It could very well be the opposite that everyone else is paid fairly and AM is overpaid.

Lastly, leading the team to a Cup esp right before signing a contract/extension will help increase the asking bc it can be view as a reward for helping the team win the Cup. Like if Murray led the Leafs to a Cup last playoffs, I think almost all of us would careless if Dubas(he would still be around after winning a Cup) signed Murray to a 8mil/8yrs extension this summer.

 

[francis246]

1. You can’t compare McD and Drai to AM and MM when it comes to playoffs bc two of them actually produced and led their team to the Conf Finals and also past the 1st round more than once. If the merit is winning a Cup than Eichel is the best of the them since he won a Cup in his first Playoffs.
Playoffs is also about how the players played and produced.
2. My question was if AM signed for 11mil/8yrs does that diminish him as a player bc he is taking 11mil.

Thank you for contradicting yourself and proving my point right there with point one.

 

[francis246]

Mack had performed better than AM in the playoffs. Kane, Toews and Kopitar were on rewards contract after winning Cups.

Like I asked, does it diminish AM's status as a player if he is signed a 11mil/8yrs deal.

To me, it doesn't. AM can sign for the max or 8mil/8yrs. He will most likley be in the mix for top 3 goals scorer in the league and as much as I hope he turns the corner, he will most likely underperform in the playoffs compare to his regular season. The only way he can flip that is to perform in the playoffs. Like Tkachuk. He was pretty much a non playoffs factor til this past playoffs where he just seemed to either scored or created the Game winning goal.

I can see why some are trying to justify AM's contracts but not to the extend of saying the rest of the players are underpaid as they didn't have the balls to ask for more....It could very well be the opposite that everyone else is paid fairly and AM is overpaid.

Lastly, leading the team to a Cup esp right before signing a contract/extension will help increase the asking bc it can be view as a reward for helping the team win the Cup. Like if Murray led the Leafs to a Cup last playoffs, I think almost all of us would careless if Dubas(he would still be around after winning a Cup) signed Murray to a 8mil/8yrs extension this summer.

And no players are not appropriately paid. They absolutely are not and that is because of the salary cap. Anyone with a brain understands that. That’s the whole point of a salary cap and why the the owners fought to the death in 2005. The salary cap is the owners tool to suppress rising salaries and to help keep some of the lower markets viable.

It’s literally common sense. Mcdavid as an athlete is worth easily over 20 million. The only reason he’s not is because of the salary cap. Not rocket science. That’s Matthews whole stance and a lot of player agents and even media members. It’s nonsense that this system is still in place. A flexible system would still keep competitive balance and allow for stars to be paid appropriately without it affecting the team so much.

 

[pcruz]

Mack had performed better than AM in the playoffs. Kane, Toews and Kopitar were on rewards contract after winning Cups.

Like I asked, does it diminish AM's status as a player if he is signed a 11mil/8yrs deal.

To me, it doesn't. AM can sign for the max or 8mil/8yrs. He will most likley be in the mix for top 3 goals scorer in the league and as much as I hope he turns the corner, he will most likely underperform in the playoffs compare to his regular season. The only way he can flip that is to perform in the playoffs. Like Tkachuk. He was pretty much a non playoffs factor til this past playoffs where he just seemed to either scored or created the Game winning goal.

I can see why some are trying to justify AM's contracts but not to the extend of saying the rest of the players are underpaid as they didn't have the balls to ask for more....It could very well be the opposite that everyone else is paid fairly and AM is overpaid.

Lastly, leading the team to a Cup esp right before signing a contract/extension will help increase the asking bc it can be view as a reward for helping the team win the Cup. Like if Murray led the Leafs to a Cup last playoffs, I think almost all of us would careless if Dubas(he would still be around after winning a Cup) signed Murray to a 8mil/8yrs extension this summer.

What is a reward contract?

How does one go about getting a reward contract for 8 years?

 

[francis246]

Mack had performed better than AM in the playoffs. Kane, Toews and Kopitar were on rewards contract after winning Cups.

Like I asked, does it diminish AM's status as a player if he is signed a 11mil/8yrs deal.

To me, it doesn't. AM can sign for the max or 8mil/8yrs. He will most likley be in the mix for top 3 goals scorer in the league and as much as I hope he turns the corner, he will most likely underperform in the playoffs compare to his regular season. The only way he can flip that is to perform in the playoffs. Like Tkachuk. He was pretty much a non playoffs factor til this past playoffs where he just seemed to either scored or created the Game winning goal.

I can see why some are trying to justify AM's contracts but not to the extend of saying the rest of the players are underpaid as they didn't have the balls to ask for more....It could very well be the opposite that everyone else is paid fairly and AM is overpaid.

Lastly, leading the team to a Cup esp right before signing a contract/extension will help increase the asking bc it can be view as a reward for helping the team win the Cup. Like if Murray led the Leafs to a Cup last playoffs, I think almost all of us would careless if Dubas(he would still be around after winning a Cup) signed Murray to a 8mil/8yrs extension this summer.

And of course we would care, murray is not worth 8 million, poor example.

 

[Boxscore]

Reading it again, maybe I misunderstood your post


Why not do goals?

So you're desperately latching on to the ONE thing that Matthews may have going for him... sure.

How about this...

Matthews "the goal scorer" scored 60. McDavid scored 64.

In the playoffs...

Auston Matthews = 22 goals in 50 GP = 36 goals over 82 GP pace
Connor McDavid = 29 goals in 49 GP = 49 goals over 82 GP pace

Regular season...

Matthews (51) vs. McDavid (44) over 82 GP average.

Matthews has an advantage over McDavid with regular season goals average by 7. McDavid has an advantage over Matthews with playoff goals average by 7. Matthews high in goals is 60 and McDavid is 64. Let's assume all of that washes out... now what?

Matthews isn't even on the same planet as McDavid. I know he's our guy but let's be honest, my goodness.

 

[Boxscore]

Thanks for your input, though completely irrelevant to what I was speaking to. No one is comparing Matthews to McDavid in terms of statistical out put, we know this. McDavid and Draisaitl are miles ahead of everyone. We are talking about the narrative of being playoff chokers. McDavid and Draisaitl in my opinion are just as much of playoff chokers as Matthews and Marner. They get a ton more power plays so their numbers are inflated, especially McDavids. His even strength production wasn’t that great this year. To me, if you don’t get it done you don’t get it done. Doesn’t matter if you have 23 points or if you have 11. You still failed at the objective of winning.

This is completely absurd. Matthews scores over 1.5 points-per-game in the playoffs, he didn't fail at anything. Matthews scores at 0.88 points-per-game in the playoffs, which is considered failure for a player who wants to be the highest paid on the planet.

We are in a team hot dog eating contest... you eat 18 hot dogs, but your best friend eats 5 and I eat 5 for a total of 28. The other teams trio each eat 10 and they defeat us 30-27. Our team lost but how did you fail... considering you ate more than anyone in the competition? We let you down and didn't carry our weight. You didn't lose.

If McDavid was scoring 0.88 PPG in the playoffs, then I'd agree with you that he's a playoff failure. But he's not.

As for power plays... as long as power plays exist and PP goals count... it's a futile argument.

 

[francis246]

This is completely absurd. Matthews scores over 1.5 points-per-game in the playoffs, he didn't fail at anything. Matthews scores at 0.88 points-per-game in the playoffs, which is considered failure for a player who wants to be the highest paid on the planet.

We are in a team hot dog eating contest... you eat 18 hot dogs, but your best friend eats 5 and I eat 5 for a total of 28. The other teams trio each eat 10 and they defeat us 30-27. Our team lost but how did you fail... considering you ate more than anyone in the competition? We let you down and didn't carry our weight. You didn't lose.

If McDavid was scoring 0.88 PPG in the playoffs, then I'd agree with you that he's a playoff failure. But he's not.

As for power plays... as long as power plays exist and PP goals count... it's a futile argument.

You don’t win, to me it’s all the same. Edmonton/Toronto and their players are all in the same boat. Talented players and rosters who just can’t get it done when it counts.

Edmonton lost because their 5 on 5 play was horrendous. That starts with McDavid and Draisaitl who were god awful defensively. So yes McDavid and Draisaitl are amazing players but if you have to be heavily dependent on power plays to score you’re probably not going to win games. The advance stats shows that they carry some blame too, more so McDavid than Draisaitl. McDavid had 8 Even Strength points this entire playoffs a little more productivity even strength from him maybe Edmonton wins. To me, idk they aren’t really off the hook. Don’t get me wrong I’d take 97 & 29 all day everyday over 34 & 16. But meh I view them the same way, not able to get over the hump.

 

[ToneDog]

You don’t win, to me it’s all the same. Edmonton/Toronto and their players are all in the same boat. Talented players and rosters who just can’t get it done when it counts.

Edmonton lost because their 5 on 5 play was horrendous. That starts with McDavid and Draisaitl who were god awful defensively. So yes McDavid and Draisaitl are amazing players but if you have to be heavily dependent on power plays to score you’re probably not going to win games. The advance stats shows that they carry some blame too, more so McDavid than Draisaitl. McDavid had 8 Even Strength points this entire playoffs a little more productivity even strength from him maybe Edmonton wins. To me, idk they aren’t really off the hook. Don’t get me wrong I’d take 97 & 29 all day everyday over 34 & 16. But meh I view them the same way, not able to get over the hump.

Tkachuk and the Panthers failed to win. Do you classify them as failures cause I sure don't. It is not as black and white as you say it is. No way have 29 and 97 choked the last couple of years like 16 and 34 have the past 5 years.

 

[francis246]

Tkachuk and the Panthers failed to win. Do you classify them as failures cause I sure don't. It is not as black and white as you say it is. No way have 29 and 97 choked the last couple of years like 16 and 34 have the past 5 years.

Yes absolutely not winning the cup is a failure overall. That’s every teams objective or should be. I think if you ask Tkachuk he’d tell you the same thing.

 

[ToneDog]

Yes absolutely not winning the cup is a failure overall. That’s every teams objective or should be. I think if you ask Tkachuk he’d tell you the same thing.

Man you are one tough cookie. Hate to be one of your students. If you do not get and A, you get an F.

 

[francis246]

Man you are one tough cookie. Hate to be one of your students. If you do not get and A, you get an F.

Haha I’m pretty stubborn can’t lie, same way as a coach. I get it, you have to crawl before you walk. But I think all these elite athletes hold themselves to a high standard.

 

[Stephen]

This is completely absurd. Matthews scores over 1.5 points-per-game in the playoffs, he didn't fail at anything. Matthews scores at 0.88 points-per-game in the playoffs, which is considered failure for a player who wants to be the highest paid on the planet.

We are in a team hot dog eating contest... you eat 18 hot dogs, but your best friend eats 5 and I eat 5 for a total of 28. The other teams trio each eat 10 and they defeat us 30-27. Our team lost but how did you fail... considering you ate more than anyone in the competition? We let you down and didn't carry our weight. You didn't lose.

If McDavid was scoring 0.88 PPG in the playoffs, then I'd agree with you that he's a playoff failure. But he's not.

As for power plays... as long as power plays exist and PP goals count... it's a futile argument.

Matthews objectively has a ton going for him and is the cream of the crop when it comes to NHL players. It just so happens that there's something even better out there in McDavid and the gap is currently very wide. Wider than it has arguably ever been and this is spoiling the mood. But that can always change year to year, and the mission has always been the same. Win a Stanley Cup. So I think with the contract behind us we should just relax and enjoy the player once more and hope we win before pesky Edmonton.

 

[pcruz]

So you're desperately latching on to the ONE thing that Matthews may have going for him... sure.

How about this...

Matthews "the goal scorer" scored 60. McDavid scored 64.

In the playoffs...

Auston Matthews = 22 goals in 50 GP = 36 goals over 82 GP pace
Connor McDavid = 29 goals in 49 GP = 49 goals over 82 GP pace

Regular season...

Matthews (51) vs. McDavid (44) over 82 GP average.

Matthews has an advantage over McDavid with regular season goals average by 7. McDavid has an advantage over Matthews with playoff goals average by 7. Matthews high in goals is 60 and McDavid is 64. Let's assume all of that washes out... now what?

Matthews isn't even on the same planet as McDavid. I know he's our guy but let's be honest, my goodness.

This is completely absurd. Matthews scores over 1.5 points-per-game in the playoffs, he didn't fail at anything. Matthews scores at 0.88 points-per-game in the playoffs, which is considered failure for a player who wants to be the highest paid on the planet.

We are in a team hot dog eating contest... you eat 18 hot dogs, but your best friend eats 5 and I eat 5 for a total of 28. The other teams trio each eat 10 and they defeat us 30-27. Our team lost but how did you fail... considering you ate more than anyone in the competition? We let you down and didn't carry our weight. You didn't lose.

If McDavid was scoring 0.88 PPG in the playoffs, then I'd agree with you that he's a playoff failure. But he's not.

As for power plays... as long as power plays exist and PP goals count... it's a futile argument.

I'm sorry, but this is purely arguing in bad faith.


When making a comparison, it's imperative to equal out as many variables as possible in order to have a fair and informed comparison.

When comparing the goal scoring of McDavid and Auston Matthews, one cannot simply state:

"as long as power plays exist and PP goals count... it's a futile argument."

In the 2 seasons you used to compare the goal tally, one player scored 21 power play goals and the other 16 power play goals.

I guess your argument would be to score more on the power play.

And a rebuttal would be plain math:


While Edmonton ended the season 6th in total power plays with 275 this past season, Toronto was 21st in power plays in 2021/22 with a total of 231 total power plays.


Think Matthews could have scored a couple of goals in 44 power plays over the course of the year?

 

[Gallagbi]

What is a reward contract?

How does one go about getting a reward contract for 8 years?

Win the cup

 

[pcruz]

As an addendum to my last post about power play time.

Ranked since 2016/17, when comparing player time on ice during the power play in a given season, Matthews's best season sits 137th among all players in the NHL.

In 2022/23, Matthews ended the season with 268:17 TOI on the power play.

His second highest pp toi season sits ranked 413th highest in the NHL since 2016/17 ( 2021/22 with 225:45 total time on ice on the power play).



That's the best goal scorer in the NHL folks. A player who very infrequently is given power play time on the ice for his career when compared with other top end players.

Where do others fall on the list you could wonder - Only going to list instances with more pp toi than the best season Matthews ever had:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Ovechkin : 1st (366:21 minutes), 2nd (357:21), 4th (344:51), 5th (343:41), 12th (332:32), 35th (305:21)
Draisaitl: 21st (317:48), 33rd (306:56), 113th (274:20), 115th (273:00)
McDavid: 17th (321:53), 48th (297:52)
Pastrnak: 25th (314:26)

 

[81Leafs50]

McDavid has never taken over 16% of cap.

The highest was 15.7%