If the cap goes up to $80-82 million next year, should we go after Tavares if he hits UFA?

[Clark4Ever]

If we can manage to add a substantial salary under the new cap without impacting our ability to re-sign the big 3 up front, I would rather see those resources allocated to Doughty as opposed to Tavares.

Tavares would be an expensive luxury. Doughty would be a key missing ingredient.

 

[ULF_55]

LOL! Are you serious? There is no way he is under $6 million if the contract is 6 years or more. I am guessing $7 million.

How many 6 goal scorers get $6 million?

 

[BayStreetBully]

How many 6 goal scorers get $6 million?

In all seriousness, I believe that no matter what happens the rest of this season and no matter how good they perform the rest of the way, the start that Marner and Nylander had and the drop in hype will allow us to sign them for somewhere between $6-7 million. I hope we can get it closer to $6 million. Like Ehlers.

 

[ryno23]

If the Leafs sign Tavares and are able to keep Marner, Nylander and Matthews there is not reason to trade a Kadri, Nylander or Marner. They would be running the Pits model
Crosby - Tavares
Malkin - Matthews
Bonino - Kadri
Kessel - Nylander

Pits won the cup with 2 elite C's and a very good 3rd C. Their D wasn't great especially with Letang out and I think the Leaf d now is better than the Pens cup winning D.

 

[shortfuze]

Would love Tavares in Toronto and hopefully they can figure out a way to get him here. If he were to come here I think it would be in the 9.5 million 7 year range.

 

[Mess]

Strength down the middle is a key component of a winning formula and proven success strategy.

With both Matthews and Tavares locked up long term for $20-25 mil combined, it would give the Leafs perhaps after Crosby/Malkin the best 1-2 punch in the NHL.

The Pitts dynamic duo have combined for 3 Stanley Cups already using this formula, and the hopes would be it would also work for Toronto to deliver multiple Cups as well.

Sign me up if this opportunity should present itself.

 

[Budsfan]

Johnny's next spot

John Tavares is poised to become the NHL's highest-paid player next summer. Will it be with the Islanders or somewhere else? Here are all the potential places the prized center could land.

By Greg Wyshynski

Johnny's next spot: Eight places Tavares could land in 2018


Toronto Maple Leafs Why it could work Hey, did you hear that John Tavares was born in Ontario and as such is required by law of the Toronto media to return to his place of origin to lead the Leafs to glory? Toronto has a Scrooge McDuck Money Bin of finances from which to pay Tavares, so no worries there -- especially since it could sign Tavares long-term and then fit the Connor McDavid-level payday due Auston Matthews in 2019 around that contract. There has also been speculation that Tavares would take a high-yield, short-term contract to win in Toronto, like he's Marian Hossa circa 2009.

Why it could not work Tavares would be arriving in Toronto right around the time the franchise shifts from the "belly rubs for the new puppy" stage to the "searing criticism unless they challenge for a Stanley Cup" stage in the media. This isn't a spotlight he wants or desires. And though any team would be improved by the presence of John Tavares, perhaps the Leafs would prefer to spend that money on an elite defenseman? Say, Drew Doughty is available in 2019 ... and he's from Ontario!

 

[BayStreetBully]

If the Leafs sign Tavares and are able to keep Marner, Nylander and Matthews there is not reason to trade a Kadri, Nylander or Marner. They would be running the Pits model
Crosby - Tavares
Malkin - Matthews
Bonino - Kadri
Kessel - Nylander

Pits won the cup with 2 elite C's and a very good 3rd C. Their D wasn't great especially with Letang out and I think the Leaf d now is better than the Pens cup winning D.

It would be tragic to pass on Tavares in 2018 to wait for Doughty in 2019, only to find that in 2019 Rielly has emerged as a #1 D and Liljegren has shown more top pairing potential, and Marner/Nylander have stagnated up front. Seems the smart move would be to grab the bull by the horns when the opportunity first presents itself.

 

[Mess]

How many 6 goal scorers get $6 million?

Is the answer Noah Hanifin?

He has 5 goals & 14 points in 26 games on pace for 16 goals & 44 points in a contract year.

Looks like Leafs might be getting a Cap break when they resign their own and will have more Cap $$$ available for signing Tavares. Then when they combine their guy with JT the following year the contract will look like steal and great bang for your cap buck. After all Johnny T will be a significant upgrade on Bozak.

Hyman -- Matthews -- Nylander
Marleau -- Tavares --- Marner
Komarov --Kadri ----- Brown

PS. A sophomore slump can really benefit a team long-term in a cap World.

 

[Budsfan]

I think Tavares would be a great center for the leafs, with the cap some are projecting to maybe reach close to 80 mill, it would be very possible,

 

[Menzinger]

How many 6 goal scorers get $6 million?

Plenty of hockey left to play

 

[Walshy7]

In all seriousness, I believe that no matter what happens the rest of this season and no matter how good they perform the rest of the way, the start that Marner and Nylander had and the drop in hype will allow us to sign them for somewhere between $6-7 million. I hope we can get it closer to $6 million. Like Ehlers.

Marner doesnt have to sign this offseason, and id bet if his season doesnt pick up from here he will bet on himself for one more season

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Tavares wont play as a second center LOL

 

[Americanadian]

This needs more attention. Everyone keeps saying we’ll have to dump the big 3 or Kadri to sign Doughty but no one can put a full logical roster together to prove that. You can have the big 3, Kadri, Doughty, Tavares AND Matt Martin if we’re assuming 82M cap. For the exercise i have added my personal pipe dream trade - JVR extended+Moore for Sissons+Fabbro, also Marleau+2nd to ARI for 7th.

Hyman(2.25)-Matthews(10)-Marner(6)
Kapanen(1)-Tavares(9)-Nylander(6)
Johnsson(.85)-Kadri(4.5)-Brown(2.1)
Martin(2.5)-Sissons(1.5)-Soshnikov(.95)
Timashov(.7)-Grundström(.925)

Rielly(5)-Doughty(10)
Dermott(.9)-Zaitsev(4.5)
Borgman(1.5)-Liljegren(.925)
Fabbro(.925)

Andersen(5)
Sparks(.95)

Kessel(1.2)

Cap hit: 79.2M

The immediate complaint would be “Nylander and Marner deserve more”. Ehlers is as good of a comparable as you can find for both. Pastrnak only got 6.66 and he scored 34 in 75. 2nd complaint would be that Tavares is going to get more. Unlike Doughty - Tavares hasn’t won a cup, unlike Doughty - Toronto is actually home for Tavares, unlike Doughty - Tavares is yet to make a public claim that he deserves to be the highest paid at his position. Tavares will make closer to Stamkos than he will Eichel. The 3rd complaint might be bonus overages but we will be able to eat the overages for 17/18 and 18/19 in the 18/19 season due to the cap space created by losing JVR, Komarov and Bozak. 18/19 cap hit before bonuses would be around 67M.

Tell me why this can’t happen. Obviously I’m assuming, like everyone in this thread, that they’re both going to be available to sign and willing to sign with the leafs.

 

[Americanadian]

that's $32m for 4 forwards. You need 10 more.
You then add Marleu 6.25, Kadri 4.5, Martin+Hyman+Brown 6.85. Then let's say 5 more at $1m each.
Now you have about $55m for your forwards

Defense you have Hainsey, Zietsev, Gardiner and Rielly at 16.5 plus 3 more at about 1m each.
That's about $20m for defense

Goalies $5.85m
and $1.2 for Phil

that's $81m.
over $80m cap. Or at best no room to breathe.

Marner and Matthews money will never overlap Gardiner and Hainsey’s money.

 

[Americanadian]

And I told you, you can't trade him if he doesn't want to go

I've sat down and crunched the numbers, if you want Tavares one of Nylander/Marner needs to go for someone on a CHEAP deal, preferably an ECL

I don't care about where Tavares is from either, all I care about is how much? And who's going to fit him in

Can you reveal these numbers you crunched?

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Tell me why this can’t happen. Obviously I’m assuming, like everyone in this thread, that they’re both going to be available to sign and willing to sign with the leafs.

The issue I can see is you're expecting every single player to take less than market value.

Matthews may want more than 10M.
Nylander will want at least 6.5+.
Marner will wait until next season to increase his value.
Tavares will want more than 9M (all UFA years) on his last big contract. He'll be looking at Toews' contract.
Doughty is okay at 10M. I can see that.

There are other signings such as Borgman/Kapanen that assume they'll stay at about the same level as right now.

I mean it's possible but you have to hit a home run on every single signing.

 

[Americanadian]

The issue I can see is you're expecting every single player to take less than market value.

Matthews may want more than 10M.
Nylander will want at least 6.5+.
Marner will wait until next season to increase his value.
Tavares will want more than 9M (all UFA years) on his last big contract. He'll be looking at Toews' contract.
Doughty is okay at 10M. I can see that.

There are other signings such as Borgman/Kapanen that assume they'll stay at about the same level as right now.

I mean it's possible but you have to hit a home run on every single signing.

Matthews may want more than Eichel but their stats in their sophomore years aren’t that far apart. Unless Nylander becomes a C by the end of the season he has don’t nothing allow him to demand more money than Ehlers. Marner is a question mark, I also believe he won’t sign this summer but there’s no telling what will happen next season. Tavares is iffy, Toews is an interesting comparable. Group Toews and Kopitar together. Toews and Kopitar both scored at 0.9ppg before they signed their contracts. Tavares will probably finish around 1ppg, but Toews and Kopitar both have award winning (Selke) two-way play. Tavares doesn’t have a nomination. Kopitar and Toews both captained their respective teams to 2 Stanley cups. Tavares hasn’t. Tavares hasn’t done enough to compare himself to Toews and Kopitar. Kapanen is also a question mark but if he breaks out for 20 goals next season (a stretch considering all 3 of his NHL goals were tap ins) why should he make more than Connor Brown? In the projection above there is 2.8M in cap space - allocate 1.1M to Kapanen to give him 2.1 and 1.5 to Tavares to put him at 10.5 and you’re still under the cap. I'm not sure what Borgman will come in at because his contract is up in 2019 but right now he's getting <14mins/game so currently he's not trending towards deserving a notable contract. This can change, and I hope it does.

 

[Sypher04]

Matthews may want more than Eichel but their stats in their sophomore years aren’t that far apart. Unless Nylander becomes a C by the end of the season he has don’t nothing allow him to demand more money than Ehlers. Marner is a question mark, I also believe he won’t sign this summer but there’s no telling what will happen next season. Tavares is iffy, Toews is an interesting comparable. Group Toews and Kopitar together. Toews and Kopitar both scored at 0.9ppg before they signed their contracts. Tavares will probably finish around 1ppg, but Toews and Kopitar both have award winning (Selke) two-way play. Tavares doesn’t have a nomination. Kopitar and Toews both captained their respective teams to 2 Stanley cups. Tavares hasn’t. Tavares hasn’t done enough to compare himself to Toews and Kopitar. Kapanen is also a question mark but if he breaks out for 20 goals next season (a stretch considering all 3 of his NHL goals were tap ins) why should he make more than Connor Brown? In the projection above there is 2.8M in cap space - allocate 1.1M to Kapanen to give him 2.1 and 1.5 to Tavares to put him at 10.5 and you’re still under the cap. I'm not sure what Borgman will come in at because his contract is up in 2019 but right now he's getting <14mins/game so currently he's not trending towards deserving a notable contract. This can change, and I hope it does.

Eichel's contract is the floor for what Matthews gets. In reality he probably gets between 11 and 12 million. Matthews is currently over a point per game in his sophomore season, Eichel was close, but not quite point per game in like 60 games. The differentiation though will be all around game AND goal scoring.

 

[Sypher04]

I'm not convinced our long term cap can handle adding even one of Tavares/Doughty at 10M+, let alone both.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Tavares wont play as a second center LOL

Interesting point.

Except, we need to pull a Miami Heat.
Lebron convinces Duane Wade and Bosh to all move to the Heat and get some rings.

Is it possible for the Leafs to do that ?

 

[BayStreetBully]

Eichel's contract is the floor for what Matthews gets. In reality he probably gets between 11 and 12 million. Matthews is currently over a point per game in his sophomore season, Eichel was close, but not quite point per game in like 60 games. The differentiation though will be all around game AND goal scoring.

Eichel was overpaid, having accomplished nothing. Leafs won’t make that mistake.

Leafs can offer Matthews $10 million x 8, and Matthews can take that offer. Does anyone understand what the R stands for in restricted free agent anymore? It means he is Leafs property. His choice is to receive a paycheck or don’t play (he won’t offer sheet). He’ll sign for that. The stupid $12 million deals can come when he is a UFA.

 

[Sypher04]

Eichel was overpaid, having accomplished nothing. Leafs won’t make that mistake.

Leafs can offer Matthews $10 million x 8, and Matthews can take that offer. Does anyone understand what the R stands for in restricted free agent anymore? It means he is Leafs property. His choice is to receive a paycheck or don’t play (he won’t offer sheet). He’ll sign for that. The stupid $12 million deals can come when he is a UFA.

That's all well and good but, like it or not, comparables set market value, not sentiment. Right now Eichel is the lower bound, McDavid is the upper bound. He's most likely going to be in between somewhere.

 

[Mess]

Eichel was overpaid, having accomplished nothing. Leafs won’t make that mistake.

Leafs can offer Matthews $10 million x 8, and Matthews can take that offer. Does anyone understand what the R stands for in restricted free agent anymore? It means he is Leafs property. His choice is to receive a paycheck or don’t play (he won’t offer sheet). He’ll sign for that. The stupid $12 million deals can come when he is a UFA.

Why won't he offer sheet as 1/2 the league would be willing to pony up +12 mil a season easily in hopes of stealing him away?.

Leafs will not play hardball with Matthews .. They may however with Mitch and Willie offering them bridge deals or try and keep their contracts lowever.

Matthews is already likely considered a top 10 player in the NHL and will get rewarded for that as he is only scratching the surface of his abilities.

 

[Sypher04]

Why won't he offer sheet as 1/2 the league would be willing to pony up +12 mil a season easily in hopes of stealing him away?.

Leafs will not play hardball with Matthews .. They may however with Mitch and Willie offering them bridge deals or try and keep their contracts lowever.

Matthews is already likely considered a top 10 player in the NHL and will get rewarded for that as he is only scratching the surface of his abilities.

After Ehlers set the bar at 7 years and 42 million, we'd have to be insane to do a bridge for either Nylander or Marner. I wouldn't be shocked at all if they both sign at basically the same deal.

I agree with everything about Matthews. He's gonna get paid, as he should be.