Just a casual John Tavares conversation

[Diatomic]

If he's a UFA I don't see why not. Lets say 9mil for 7years, that's a solid contract to be honest. Easily movable too, JT will be 27-28 and is a top 10F in the league.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

8.5 mil x 6-8 years is what I'd offer.

Sets some precedence for Matthews/Marner/Nylander deals.

 

[cupcrazyman]

we already have 3 young forwards that will be better than Tavares.

We need DDD

 

[Wendelstache]

Kadri is better and comes cheaper..

No interest...

 

[TheProspector]

Matthews, Nylander, Kadri, Bozak -- where does JT slot in?

The only way this works is if Matthews or Nylander go in trade, and then we're just trading a young, explosive asset for an old, expensive one.

Vote no. Usually, I would, but the Leafs have such an embarrassment of forward riches that we need to allocate to D.

 

[yubbers]

Casual......

On this board....

 

[yubbers]

Honestly no need for Johnny T unless he signs for 7. Which ain't happening

 

[Gabriel426]

You just know a JT thread is coming when the Islanders is in a mess.
To be honest, if JT does not resign by Xmas, there is a really good chance he is leaving. Just don't know where.
Is the Leafs attractive . Yes. Pretty sure Shanny sales pitch will be imagine having Marner playing next to you, Kadri will be playing all the tough match ups, having Willie pass to you on the power play and have Matthews as your understudy.

 

[Duke16]

Kadri is better and comes cheaper..

No interest...

That's a stretch. I do agree that's it's going to be tough to make the cap work with him and MNM though.

 

[Pi]

That's a stretch

It's not a stretch, it's just downright stupid.

Tavares >>> Kadri and I freaking love Kadri.

I would go after Tavares hard because guys like Tavares make their wingers better. Having Matthews, Tavares, Kadri down the middle is probably an offense that can score 3.25-3.5 goals per game.

Our defense will get better over time and can play at a 2.5 GA/G.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

If you can sign a player as good and still young as Tavares is you do it. It doesn't matter what we already have.

 

[7even]

Matthews will be a better player by next season if he already isnt.

You can have multiple good players on one team

 

[-DeMo-]

if we havent fixed our defense by then, then yes it would open up alot of options in the trade route and give us an opportunity to move a very valuable player and then replace him for free with Tavares.

 

[Pi]

You can have multiple good players on one team

Yep.

Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Marner, Kadri, Brown, Kapanen...that's a lot of skill.

 

[Duke16]

You've gotta be careful about what you pay him. If you give him 9 mil and all 3 of our guys become as good or better it would be within their right to get similar or more money. It would be too risky to have nearly 40 mil tied up in 4 guys unless the cap goes up substantially. However, if Nylander remains a winger, he and Marner should be paid less than both Matthews and Tavares.

 

[Pi]

You've gotta be careful about what you pay him. If you give him 9 mil and all 3 of our guys become as good or better it would be within their right to get similar or more money. It would be too risky to have nearly 40 mil tied up in 4 guys unless the cap goes up substantially. However, if Nylander remains a winger, he and Marner should be paid less than both Matthews and Tavares.

Tavares is a UFA. Marner/Matthews/Nylander are RFA. Cost controlled for 5+ more years after ELC.

Even if you pay 9M to Tavares, they all would be under 30M. That's giving Nylander, Marner and Matthews a generous 7M RFA contract. Realistically 5.5-6 for Nylander and Marner, 7.5 for Matthews.

 

[nuck]

Let's not get crazy, just have a little chat about Tavares as a free agent.

Do the Leafs make a play for him?

yes we have a young core that we need to sign to contracts but would they take a shot at building around

Matthews - Nylander
Tavares - Marner


it's hard to keep that many top players but if we look at Chicago they have 32 million tied up in their top four fowards (when Panarin's deal kicks in) and are still able to have 16 million spent on their big 3 defenders.


Look at guys like Barkov, Tarasenko etc. it's realistic we could lock our kids up on good AAV contracts and have no problem fitting in Tavares' contract.

given our forward prospects and the great job our scouting team has done to restock the cupboards they could fill in the surrounding area with younger cheaper guys as our core grows.


Not speculating on him hitting FA or even wanting to play in TO.. just curious if you guys think Toronto would be interested in setting that as their core 4 moving forward.

They wont look at him. They need D not another high scoring center. If they somehow sorted out their D for cheap enough, they would maybe look at a power winger.

 

[Puckstuff]

Matthews-Marner
Tavares-Nylander

and you have Kadri on a cheap deal, and Brown, Leivo, Kappenen on low money deals to make it work and fill out the roster. God damn. That's Chicago level right here...

Swing a deal for a top 2 d-man and we're making many runs for the Stanley cup in the next few years. Regardless of a JT scenario

 

[A1LeafNation]

nope dont need him.

 

[HellasLEAF]

The way the Leafs are angling their cap space I would be shocked if they aren't already seriously considering taking a run at him when he is up.

Always preferred him to Stammer myself and moreover, always felt more likely to test the market. Never really believed Stamkos wanted to leave that team.

 

[egd27]

Like with any hypothetical, be it trade or signing, the only logical answer is "it depends whether or not it makes sense both from a line up perspective and a financial perspective"

It's too far away to give any definitive answer at the moment.

I will check in again once we reach 35 pages

 

[Diatomic]

People claiming we need to save money and not sign Tavares because of D... Which D-man are we going to get who we need to save money for?

I doubt we are ever drafting low enough to get a top 2D and this management group is not going to sign a UFA D-man to 7-8mil contracts. Plus I don't see them trading any of the 3 rookies for a D-man. Rielly is our highest paid D-man at 5mil and I don't see that changing anytime soon. We may never get a Hedman, Karlsson, Doughty type who we need to save 8-10mil in cap space for.

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

Why Leafs....again.

Why do so many trades revolve around the Leafs? Aren't there are other teams?

And why can't the Leafs just wait one more year and sign him if they desire as a UFA, instead of giving up assets to acquire JT.

 

[Kiwi]

Tavares is a UFA. Marner/Matthews/Nylander are RFA. Cost controlled for 5+ more years after ELC.

Even if you pay 9M to Tavares, they all would be under 30M. That's giving Nylander, Marner and Matthews a generous 7M RFA contract. Realistically 5.5-6 for Nylander and Marner, 7.5 for Matthews.

You think that 5.5-6M is generous?
Their 60+ point rookies who both have time remaining on there ELC deals to improve there point pace and that's generous
Mathews for 7.5M he's pacing for 65 points as a teenager

Good luck with that

 

[34]

If JT makes it to UFA status (highly unlikely he does) you have no choice but to sign him if he wants to play here.