Salary Cap: Nonis sits at #20 in the league salary cap with 2 players to sign.

[leafspring*]

So....we're in rough shape if we want to sign both Kadri and Franson?

No we aren't.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Wouldn't surprise me if he's looking for 4 - 4.5, especially after seeing what Gunnar got.

Except that Gunnar has proven to be a more dependable defenseman so there goes that analogy.

 

[leafspring*]

No, the conclusion is that Nonis only had the money for 3 of Bosak, Clarkson, Kadri and Franson and he messed up.

He didn't mess up anything. Just because we need to sign 2 good players with $5.000,000 approx left doesn't equate to that conclusion.

 

[hotpaws]

Burke put Nonis in a tough position by ridiculously resigning Grabo/JML to inflated contracts . Nonis screwed up by not using our 2 amnesties on Grabo/JML and then doing a regular b/o on Komi .

We're in a tough spot cap wise and fair market value for these players isn't determined by our available cap space . Posters basing what these players are worth by our cap space is ridiculous . I'd love them both to take discounts but why should they when no one else on our roster has ?

 

[ACC1224]

Except that Gunnar has proven to be a more dependable defenseman so there goes that analogy.

You think Franson will get less than Gunnar?

 

[hotpaws]

You think Franson will get less than Gunnar?

JML's paid more than Gunner but it doesn't make him a better player .

 

[leafspring*]

You think Franson will get less than Gunnar?

Same range is possible.

 

[ACC1224]

Same range is possible.

I guess that depends on the definition of range, if it was comparable I'd think he'd be signed by now.

 

[hotpaws]

I guess that depends on the definition of range, if it was comparable I'd think he'd be signed by now.

If he get's in the low 3's that would leave us peanuts to resign Kads . It's getting pretty obvious we're going to have to move a player with some value ( Kul ? ) to resign both and I believe that's why this process is taking so long .

 

[7even]

No we aren't.

I'm confused. We don't have enough cap to sign both of them to what they are rumored to be looking for, and 2/3rds of the league isn't in a position to accept salary...but we're golden

I think even the most optimistic of fans will tell you that it's an unfortunate situation to be in.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

You think Franson will get less than Gunnar?

I expect them both to come in at around the same range. 100 - 200k difference is ultimately nothing to argue over but if Franson got 4 - 4.5 then that would be a testament to how good his agent is. Could he be better than Gunnarsson? Sure. Has he? Nope.

About why he isn't signed by now: Literally every negotiation Franson and his agent has been involved with has been fought tooth and nail. Problem is that A) Franson thinks he's better than he has shown and B) Franson thinks he hasn't been afforded the opportunity he thinks he deserves with Nashville and Toronto (under Wilson). Problem for him is that his sample size under Carlyle is too small to warrant the numbers you suggested but I'm sure he thinks he is worth that. He's also accepted one bridge contract so he probably doesn't feel he should have to do that again. Suddenly its becoming abundantly clear why he hasn't been signed yet.

 

[Suntouchable13]

The Leafs have tied 9.45 mil up in Bozak and Clarkson. Name me one elite skill that they have.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

The Leafs have tied 9.45 mil up in Bozak and Clarkson. Name me one elite skill that they have.

I'm an optimist with regards to Clarkson though. I've watched Bozak enough for that optimism to fade.

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

The Leafs have tied 9.45 mil up in Bozak and Clarkson. Name me one elite skill that they have.

The Sabres have $8.5M tied up in Ville Leino and Drew Stafford. The Canadiens have $12M tied up in Brian Gionta, Rene Bourque and David Desharnais. The Red Wings have $8M tied up in Stephen Weiss and Mikhail Samuelsson. The Flyers have $7.5M tied up in Andrej Meszaros and Nicklas Grossman, etc. etc. etc.

We should also have a number of guys contributing on ELCs in the near future, not to mention the cap going up, etc.

It's rly not that dire of a situation. Most teams have an overpaid guy or two, and many of them aren't even as good as Bozak/Clarkson.

 

[hotpaws]

The Leafs have tied 9.45 mil up in Bozak and Clarkson. Name me one elite skill that they have.

Bozak isn't worth anywhere close to what he's getting and the signing will be an anchor in the coming years . Nonis did the same thing Burke did by resigning Grabo , both put short term needs ahead of what's best for the future .

Clarkson and he's contract will become the whipping boy for Leafs fans 2-3 years from now .

 

[gabeliscious]

Kadri will get a 1 year bridge deal in the neighbourhood of $2.5m - $2.75m

Franson will get 3-4 year deal at $3 - $3.5 per year. Anything more and we will trade him for picks/prospects.

That will leave us about $1mil short on cap, but thats workable, as we could demote someone to start the year and run with 22 man roster for the first 20-30 games.

i think the leafs need to get kadri locked up to a 2 year bridge deal. we have a lot of players who are ufa/rfa next summer. if kadri puts up a 70 point season it will cost a lot to sign him. if he gives us the extra year on the cheapish side it would allow two years for the cap to go up and allow us to sign him comfortably.

regarding franson i think he is pushing for a 5 year x $4 million deal which if we had the money i wouldnt be that against. i think the best thing for franson is to sign a 1 year deal on the cheap. it would allow him to show last year was not a fluke and he would remain in favour with management. he could easily play 1 season at $2.5 million which is still a raise from his previous season. if he puts up 40 points and plays top 4 minutes and looks good then nonis will have a hard time not giving him his contract or at the very worst being able to trade him to a team that will.

 

[jmart21]

Bozak isn't worth anywhere close to what he's getting and the signing will be an anchor in the coming years . Nonis did the same thing Burke did by resigning Grabo , both put short term needs ahead of what's best for the future .

Clarkson and he's contract will become the whipping boy for Leafs fans 2-3 years from now .

I'd say looking at the comparables in the $4.2M range; he's certainly part of the discussion.

 

[jmart21]

i think the leafs need to get kadri locked up to a 2 year bridge deal. we have a lot of players who are ufa/rfa next summer. if kadri puts up a 70 point season it will cost a lot to sign him. if he gives us the extra year on the cheapish side it would allow two years for the cap to go up and allow us to sign him comfortably.

regarding franson i think he is pushing for a 5 year x $4 million deal which if we had the money i wouldnt be that against. i think the best thing for franson is to sign a 1 year deal on the cheap. it would allow him to show last year was not a fluke and he would remain in favour with management. he could easily play 1 season at $2.5 million which is still a raise from his previous season. if he puts up 40 points and plays top 4 minutes and looks good then nonis will have a hard time not giving him his contract or at the very worst being able to trade him to a team that will.

Now for the what ifs:

- What if Kadri doesn't want a 2 year deal?

- What if Franson doesn't want yet another 1 year deal well below what he thinks he should be getting?

 

[Warden of the North]

The Leafs have tied 9.45 mil up in Bozak and Clarkson. Name me one elite skill that they have.

Bozak is clutch at breakaways, shootouts, and faceoffs.

IMO if hes in game 7 we dont lose.

 

[sangreale]

Now for the what ifs:

- What if Kadri doesn't want a 2 year deal?

- What if Franson doesn't want yet another 1 year deal well below what he thinks he should be getting?

Now I am a Franson supporter but in his case it would not be a disaster to take the picks as compensation for an offer sheet. Especially if a middling team makes the offer.

 

[The Blue Devil]

Bozak is clutch at breakaways, shootouts, and faceoffs.

IMO if hes in game 7 we dont lose.

He was gonna move Chara away from the net?

Before you bring up face-offs I'm pretty sure McClemment won a couple near the end, but we didn't do anything with the puck and gave it away. While we did lose some key draws, our puck possession was horrible and we took our foot off the pedal. A few extra FO wins wouldn't have changed that.

 

[Warden of the North]

He was gonna move Chara away from the net?

Before you bring up face-offs I'm pretty sure McClemment won a couple near the end, but we didn't do anything with the puck and gave it away. While we did lose some key draws, our puck possession was horrible and we took our foot off the pedal. A few extra FO wins wouldn't have changed that.

It would have only taken one more faceoff win and a clear.

Hes our best faceoff man, defensive zone draws are vitally important.

As for possession, its one of Clarkson's strong points.

 

[Stephen]

Another thing to consider when people talk about bridge contracts. Do you really want Kadri, Franson and Phaneuf and Kessel to all hit free agency at the same time? That's setting yourself up got a potential Armageddon of a summer next year. It's a real shame they didn't buy out Liles to get some flexibility. Fraser should also not have been retained at all if Ranger was brought into the fold.

 

[The Blue Devil]

It would have only taken one more faceoff win and a clear.

Hes our best faceoff man, defensive zone draws are vitally important.

As for possession, its one of Clarkson's strong points.

With the way we were playing, even if he won the FO we probably would've ended up turning it over.

Clarkson wasn't a part of our team during the playoffs.

 

[Warden of the North]

With the way we were playing, even if he won the FO we probably would've ended up turning it over.

Clarkson wasn't a part of our team during the playoffs.

Well obviously, but the post i oringally quoted asked what Clarkson was elite at. Hes a very good puck possession player.