Sportsnet: Kessel and Leafs won't negotiate in-season

[astro7]

Deep breath everyone, deep breath. He will re-sign. First presser Burke said Phil told him he wants to end his career here. And he will. Most players say the exact same thing when they are in a contract year. IE "No distraction, team first, focus on winning games and getting better, it will be taken care of, lots of time, blah blah blah". He will be re signed, so will Dion. These are franchise pieces, they rarely hit FA unless they don't wanna sign with their current team. We have no evidence that they do not, and have no reason not to re sign, so everyone calm down.

Burke said that back in 2011 during damage control after Kessel sounded like he might want out. Also, his agent said "if you ask Phil, he would probably tell you he wants to finish his career as a Leafs yada yada" during a time of heavy trade rumors. That was a while ago and after what was said now, that if this is put off, that most UFA's leave (and he's right) is what I'm looking at. Not panicking but just looking at the facts. I never assumed Kessel was a lock to resign here at all let alone at a discount no matter what his buddy Bozak did.

 

[BiggestLeafsFanEVER*]

...and he priced himself completely fairly with the market last time. So long as history repeats itself, there should be no worry.

but in a way that is why i'm worried. that maybe the leafs give him the money and it doesn't matter in the end, that they offer to pay him what he wants but he still decides that toronto and the leafs aren't good enough for him, that he could do better than the leafs/toronto

 

[Suntouchable13]

but in a way that is why i'm worried. that maybe the leafs give him the money and it doesn't matter in the end, that they offer to pay him what he wants but he still decides that toronto and the leafs aren't good enough for him, that he could do better than the leafs/toronto

You can't do much better than the Leafs/Toronto. All the players that leave here willingly are ****ing stupid. There, I said it. Kessel is stupid if he decides to ditch Toronto and the Leafs. As long as the Leafs keep on trending up, that is.

 

[L Corncrick]

You can't do much better than the Leafs/Toronto. All the players that leave here willingly are ****ing stupid. There, I said it. Kessel is stupid if he decides to ditch Toronto and the Leafs. As long as the Leafs keep on trending up, that is.

I agree. Leafs will spend to the cap, the facilities are tip top, the team travel is not difficult, they spend a tonne on non-player staff, the city is safe and clean and the fans are ridiculous. The media is not that big of a deal if you keep your nose clean.

 

[Durrr]

You can't do much better than the Leafs/Toronto. All the players that leave here willingly are ****ing stupid. There, I said it. Kessel is stupid if he decides to ditch Toronto and the Leafs. As long as the Leafs keep on trending up, that is.

Yeah cause the pressure/media/fan base here hasn't killed/halted many careers in there time here.

 

[DeathToAllButMetal]

Could be just a show to get the Leafs to negotiate. Or could be legitimate. How does Nonis sit back and wait to get this done next summer? Lot can go wrong, missing the playoffs, etc. If he isn't signed to an extension by the trade deadline, how does Nonis not look at trading him?

Not panicking, largely because I don't think a lot of Kessel, points or not. But Nonis can't let the guy walk for nothing. All this talk about how Kessel is committed to Toronto is hard to believe. Could be true, but he's also an American, who just might want to head home, especially if he's thinking of getting married at some point in the not-too-distant future and having kids. Might be thinking he'd like to go home for that.

 

[hullsy47]

pretty obvious if phil isnt signed by opening nite hes gone .....if he ever walked this ***** show will, have reached a new all time low....another burke f up by giving him too much money in the begining .new board ,new rules ...

 

[Cor]

You think 5.4M for Kessel is too much?

 

[Damisoph]

Welp, this is the beginning of the end then amirite?

 

[JEI]

Welp, this is the beginning of the end then amirite?

 

[A1LeafNation]

Why the **** hasn't Nonis been negotiating with Kessel yet?

If Kessel walks, Nonis should be fired on the spot.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Why the **** hasn't Nonis been negotiating with Kessel yet?

If Kessel walks, Nonis should be fired on the spot.

Probably because he's stupid and doesn't know any better. Maybe he doesn't even know that Kessel's contract only has a year left on it.

 

[613Leafer]

Cant say Im a fan of this. i really want this situation resolved this summer, not hanging over the organizations head all season. If we lose Kessel for nothing, it will have been one of the biggest wastes of assets in franchise history.

Bergeron, Datsyuk, Malkin, Letang, Bouwmeester, etc.. Other teams are locking up their star players that would have been UFAs at the same time as Kessel. Why cant this get done this summer? I really see no reason.

Sure, there are a few other major pending UFAs out there.. But some of them are older and on contending teams that have better cores than we do (Thornton/Marleau), others are on rebuilding teams so its an easy decision to "sell" at the deadline when the team is far out of the playoffs (Vanek, Miller, and likely Gaborik).

We will very likely be a bubble team, fighting for a playoff spot, or potentially IN a playoff spot at the trade deadline. Having Kessel/Phaneuf sitting there unsigned at that point would be a terrible position to be in.

Lundqvist is probably the most comparable example around the league. Absolutely vital to the Rangers, in his prime, on a not-quite-contending team.

 

[Deebo]

Does Phil have any clauses in his current contract (move or trade)?

If he doesn't want to talk turkey in season, nonis has to keep his options open. Its a big gamble for nonis to wait till late June and find out philip's walking. I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks.

Limited NTC this season.

 

[BiggestLeafsFanEVER*]

this keep reminding me of what happened with zach parise.

 

[Mess]

pretty obvious if phil isnt signed by opening nite hes gone .....if he ever walked this ***** show will, have reached a new all time low....another burke f up by giving him too much money in the begining .new board ,new rules ...

It wasn't the amount, but rather the term that was the problem.

Other GM's had the foresight to lock up their young stars long-term to cap friendly deals.

However our former GM had a self imposed rule of only 5-6 years max which has put the Leafs in this vulnerable situation now.. If Kessel would have received a Richards/Carter type deal he would still be lockup up long term for $5.5 mil.

You would think after making the huge sacrifice of 2 X top 10 picks + more that you would want to protect your investment.

 

[Deebo]

It wasn't the amount, but rather the term that was the problem.

Other GM's had the foresight to lock up their young stars long-term to cap friendly deals.

However our former GM had a self imposed rule of only 5-6 years max which has put the Leafs in this vulnerable situation now.. If Kessel would have received a Richards/Carter type deal he would still be lockup up long term for $5.5 mil.

You would think after making the huge sacrifice of 2 X top 10 picks + more that you would want to protect your investment.

That's assuming Kessel was open to a long term deal like that.

You can't just walk up to a player and hit him the face with an SPC and then he is automatically signed to that contract.

 

[Durrr]

lol seriously people in here need to calm down. With the new cap regulations you can be sure the leafs will be able to match any offer and add an extra year. In the end it's kessel's decision to stay, not Nonis's because the money will be just as good as any team. If the success the team had last year is continued this year then Kessel will probably choose to stay as it seems like he enjoys being here (minus the media).

 

[Squiffy]

Probably because he's stupid and doesn't know any better. Maybe he doesn't even know that Kessel's contract only has a year left on it.

I bet he doesn't even have capgeek bookmarked!

 

[Mess]

That's assuming Kessel was open to a long term deal like that.

You can't just walk up to a player and hit him the face with an SPC and then he is automatically signed to that contract.

You mean like the Mike Richards / Jeff Carter deals that have them locked up to cap friendly $5.25 - $5.75 mil for the next 8 more years.

Surely you have heard Burke comment on his own short-term deal beliefs of not giving out contracts > 5-6 years?

Leafs find themselves in this cap situation and vulnerability of risking loss of a top player as well as struggling with the salary cap because of this.

So while a top contender like LA now gets the benefit of long term security of players at cap friendly prices, Nonis is now forced into a corner of negotiating with a player that wants a big raise paying him top dollar, and\or threatening to test free agency. So not only will a $7-8 mil contract hurt the Leafs competitiveness if signed in comparison to other contenders, it could also result in a major player loss also. Pick your poison!

 

[TMLeafer]

While I don't think this is too uncommon, I am a little uneasy given Nonis' apparent troubles with getting (good) contracts done.

 

[Deebo]

You mean like the Mike Richards / Jeff Carter deals that have them locked up to cap friendly $5.25 - $5.75 mil for the next 8 more years.

Surely you have heard Burke comment on his own short-term deal beliefs of not giving out contracts > 5-6 years?

Leafs find themselves in this cap situation and vulnerability of risking loss of a top player as well as struggling with the salary cap because of this.

So while a top contender like LA now gets the benefit of long term security of players at cap friendly prices, Nonis is now forced into a corner of negotiating with a player that wants a big raise paying him top dollar, and\or threatening to test free agency. So not only will a $7-8 mil contract hurt the Leafs competitiveness if signed in comparison to other contenders, it could also result in a major player loss also. Pick your poison!

You just restated your post with more words and added nothing new and didn't address the point that Phil might not have wanted a deal like that.

I understand the contracts and what the benefit to the team is but You made an assumption that Kessel would have been open to that deal. Maybe Kessel wouldn't have wanted to sign a deal like that and end up being traded before the no trade years kicked in. Just because other players signed deals like that, doesn't mean Phil would have wanted to.

I could only imagine how you would have reacted back in 2009 if Burke signed a "speedy 35ish goal scorer who brings little else" to a 13 year deal before he played a game with the Leafs.

 

[Durrr]

You mean like the Mike Richards / Jeff Carter deals that have them locked up to cap friendly $5.25 - $5.75 mil for the next 8 more years.

Surely you have heard Burke comment on his own short-term deal beliefs of not giving out contracts > 5-6 years?

Leafs find themselves in this cap situation and vulnerability of risking loss of a top player as well as struggling with the salary cap because of this.

So while a top contender like LA now gets the benefit of long term security of players at cap friendly prices, Nonis is now forced into a corner of negotiating with a player that wants a big raise paying him top dollar, and\or threatening to test free agency. So not only will a $7-8 mil contract hurt the Leafs competitiveness if signed in comparison to other contenders, it could also result in a major player loss also. Pick your poison!

Meh Carter signed the deal at the age of 27 lol not 23. You put the blame all on management but seriously I doubt Kessel would have taken a 8-10 year deal back then. You think it's a coincidence that his contract takes him to his UFA year? The only reason 5.7 mil seems so reasonable is because the cap is now higher then it was in 2008-2009, in 3-4 years a 7-8 mil cap hit will look the same. In my opinion the cap situation is better then ever and should result in the cap steadily rising for years.

 

[Durrr]

You just restated your post with more words and added nothing new and didn't address the point that Phil might not have wanted a deal like that.

I understand the contracts and what the benefit to the team is but You made an assumption that Kessel would have been open to that deal. Maybe Kessel wouldn't have wanted to sign a deal like that and end up being traded before the no trade years kicked in. Just because other players signed deals like that, doesn't mean Phil would have wanted to.

I could only imagine how you would have reacted back in 2009 if Burke signed a "speedy 35ish goal scorer who brings little else" to a 13 year deal before he played a game with the Leafs.

He summed it up better then me lol, and can you imagine the reactions around here when Burke signed a 1 dimensional goal scorer to a 12 year contract back in 08-09? Even though I'm pretty sure Kessel didn't want a deal like that, back then he wasn't deserving of that deal anyways.

 

[Erndog]

You mean like the Mike Richards / Jeff Carter deals that have them locked up to cap friendly $5.25 - $5.75 mil for the next 8 more years.

Surely you have heard Burke comment on his own short-term deal beliefs of not giving out contracts > 5-6 years?

Leafs find themselves in this cap situation and vulnerability of risking loss of a top player as well as struggling with the salary cap because of this.

So while a top contender like LA now gets the benefit of long term security of players at cap friendly prices, Nonis is now forced into a corner of negotiating with a player that wants a big raise paying him top dollar, and\or threatening to test free agency. So not only will a $7-8 mil contract hurt the Leafs competitiveness if signed in comparison to other contenders, it could also result in a major player loss also. Pick your poison!

Off the top of my head, Perry, Getzlaf, Weber, Giroux, Malkin, Crosby, all had 5 years or less on their 2nd contracts and their teams just recently re-upped them.

Stamkos will be 26 when he is a UFA (same as Kessel!).... Tavares will be 27! Kane and Toews are both 2 years away from unrestricted free agency when they will be 27.

It is not uncommon and clearly practised by a number of GM's across the entire league to have signed their stars for ~5 or so years coming out of their ELC's.