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Toronto Maple Leafs must maintain salary cap flexibility

hockeywiz542

Registered User
May 26, 2008
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http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs...nts_like_tom_brady_did_with_patriots_cox.html

Tom Brady's new contract with the New England Patriots, one that pays him half the going rate for star NFL quarterbacks, will have many NFL teams thinking about getting their players to think less about maxing their salaries and more about finding ways to give teams flexibility under the cap. Problem is, of course, that few players have the trust in ownership and management that Brady enjoys with the Patriots.

So what's this got to do with the Leafs? Well, to this point, the Leafs have been one of the better NHL clubs when it comes to managing the cap. They have no forwards north of $5.5 million, and only Dion Phaneuf on the back end ($6.5 million cap hit) comes in above $4.5 million. The cap drops to $64.3 million next season, and right now the Leafs are in a solid position with about $47.1 million committed to 13 players.

The trick will be to successfully maintain cap flexibility as the team improves, assuming it does. Young players will want more, with Nazem Kadri (restricted free agent this summer) at the top of the list. The key will be finding ways to satisfy Phaneuf and winger Phil Kessel (assuming both remain Leafs) after their deals expire after next season. Joffrey Lupul has already signed a five-year cap friendly arrangment, so the tone has been set.

Detroit and New Jersey are two teams that have successfully convinced players to take a little less to stay in successful organizations. Can the Leafs become one of those teams?
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I guess every team should maintain cap flexible? Yes? This guy writes some genius articles. Tell us something we don't know.
 
5.5 for a shutdown center, if we can jettison this contract, Kessel and Phaneuf may take home discounts to remain here. No way they take less than 6.5 if this team is willing to pay 5.5 for Grabo. If you were an agent, it's completely logical to compare their importance to one of the highest recently re-upped contracts on the team. If Grabo is moved, they may be more willing to take the Tom Brady home discount.
 
DirtyDion03 said:
I guess every team should maintain cap flexible? Yes? This guy writes some genius articles. Tell us something we don't know.
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Most people who read his columns aren't hockey geeks like us who spend hours a day talking about it and know every CBA rule, what each leaf players' contract value and cap hit are etc.
 
I'm kind of surprised he called Lupul's contract a bargain. $5.25/year @5 years after a career season for an often injured player doesn't exactly scream bargain to me. It's not a huge contract, but it's 2-3 years too long for my liking.

C'est la vie, it definitely won't break us.
 
Tom Brady is a rare case. We're living in an age where players want to maximize their wallets (I don't blame them either). Look at a guy like Ryan O'Rielly. He's holding out for $. PK Subban held out for $.

I saw this today:

Zack Greinke presented the Rangers with an offer this winter just before signing with the Dodgers.

The exact terms of that proposal are unknown, but it's probably safe to assume that it was worth slightly more than the six-year, $147 million contract that he ultimately signed with Los Angeles. Greinke admitted to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman on Monday that he was looking for the richest possible deal he could find and that other factors were secondary. "I could play for the worst team if they paid the most," said the 29-year-old right-hander.


Maintaining cap flexibility is all nice and dandy but realistically, players want to get paid. "Hometown discounts" don't happen too often and when they do, it's for a few hundred K. Not millions.
 
Deebo said:
Most people who read his columns aren't hockey geeks like us who spend hours a day talking about it and know every CBA rule, what each leaf players' contract value and cap hit are etc.
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I'm sorry, but you don't need to spend hours a day talking about it, to know that with a salary cap you need to be smart with spending your money.
 
achtungbaby said:
I'm kind of surprised he called Lupul's contract a bargain. $5.25/year @5 years after a career season for an often injured player doesn't exactly scream bargain to me. It's not a huge contract, but it's 2-3 years too long for my liking.

C'est la vie, it definitely won't break us.
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It's about .250 more than I would have liked, if we are going to offer 5 years. But overall, he is paid as a top 6 fwd. It's just ok.
 
Lupul's contract, imo, is fair value. Not a bargain, and not overpaid given he would've gotten the same (possibly more) as a UFA.
 
Given the number of terrible value contracts on the Leafs in the form of Grabovski, Komisarek, Liles and possibly even Lupul, plus the expiring Armstrong and Tucker buyouts, I think there's a lot of room for non essential parts to be dumped to make room for important contracts in the next couple of years.
 
Interactif said:
5.5 for a shutdown center, if we can jettison this contract, Kessel and Phaneuf may take home discounts to remain here. No way they take less than 6.5 if this team is willing to pay 5.5 for Grabo. If you were an agent, it's completely logical to compare their importance to one of the highest recently re-upped contracts on the team. If Grabo is moved, they may be more willing to take the Tom Brady home discount.
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That's kind of the point of the article though, having players take more cap-friendly contracts instead of trying to maximize compensation. Agents can always find comparables, on other teams or their own, in order to try and maximize their compensation.

I think you are just taking an opportunity to restate, for the umpteenth time, a point you claim you hate to make.
 
If we can sign Bozak to a 3M caphit, over 3-5 years. He will be a better option for our club as a #3C. No way in heck should you pay or can afford 5.5M per for a #3 shut down C.

Hopefully we can sign Bozie, and address a better option as #1C, I am not necessarily talking about Getzlaf either, just an upgrade to Bozak so Kadri will be #2, and Bozie drops down to wear he should be, a terrific #3 on a good team.
 
Deebo said:
That's kind of the point of the article though, having players take more cap-friendly contracts instead of trying to maximize compensation. Agents can always find comparables, on other teams or their own, in order to try and maximize their compensation.

I think you are just taking an opportunity to restate, for the umpteenth time, a point you claim you hate to make.
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Bozak at 3 for a shutdown C is better cap management than 5.5 for a shutdown C. I don't think this has been stated enough actually.

And I am going to continue preaching this, haven't broken any board rules that I am aware of.
 
Next year will be the 1st year since the CBA came into place that the cap has decreased.

The mid-priced players 2nd line/2nd pairing calibar players throughout the league will be the players who get squeezed or moved around the most.

Nonis needs to be proactive and trade Liles before the deadline. In the summer they're be little to no trade market for him.

A decision on Komisarek can be made in the summer.

Gunnarson and Kulemin could be our top trade pieces as they're both due for sizable raises, are very useful players but aren't among the 6-8 pieces for a team to build around just like Brouwer, Versteeg, Ladd and Buff who got moved once they were due for raises.
 
Once previous contract mistakes are off the books by next year then Leafs will have more cap flexibility that they don't have this year.

Lots of Cap $$ in the pressbox and in the minors presently.
 
Interactif said:
Bozak at 3 for a shutdown C is better cap management than 5.5 for a shutdown C. I don't think this has been stated enough actually.

And I am going to continue preaching this, haven't broken any board rules that I am aware of.
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Why would you continue to preach nonsense, though? Bozak doesn't shut down anybody.
 
Interactif said:
Bozak at 3 for a shutdown C is better cap management than 5.5 for a shutdown C. I don't think this has been stated enough actually.

And I am going to continue preaching this, haven't broken any board rules that I am aware of.
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You are bringing it up in threads that it doesn't have relevance in.

Just because the thread has something to do with the cap, doesn't mean this point is pertinent. The discussion has to do with convincing players to take cap-friendly deals instead of deals that simply maximize their compensation.

The concept of dumping Grabovski's contract is irrelevant to that. Agents would only be concerned about the value of other contracts on the team if they are simply aiming to maximize compensation. If this is their only goal, they can use players on other teams, including a traded a Grabovski as a comparable contract during negotiations.

For the record, I do agree with you that he is overpaid and would welcome moving him. I just get tired of you harping on it in every thread.
 
Why would a player take a "home-town discount", when most have a brief window of time to maximize their earnings.

If you say "to win", well there are other teams that are contenders that will pay them max. I think comparing the Leafs to the Patriots is silly, Patriots had already won Superbowls before Brady's contract.

What a nothing article.
 
I think they should reduce Phaneuf's playing time to about 18 minutes a night and use him on the 2nd. pairing.

Probably wouldn't be the best use of cap space, but I think he'd be good being a 2nd. pairing shutdown defender.

He might even be the best shutdown defender on the team.

They could then re-sign him for about 3 million per season.
 
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