Speculation: Matthews/Leafs closing in on new contract

[Pi]

Im the biggest matthews fan.....and im not happy with this contract at all.

Id be considering making rielly captain now as well. Its clear that the three kids only care about getting money.

Not impressed with our kids honestly. This has seriously rubbed me the wrong way with all three

This is not an issue at all to me, it's a business and we're emotionally attached to the logo in the front and they might not be...the issue is definitely the term.

Matthews deserves a slight raise above Tavares, but not if it's just a 5 year deal.

IMO, Rielly or Tavares should get the C...it's just a letter but I'd rather give to someone who has been here for a long time (like Rielly) or someone who clearly took less money to play for the Leafs and is arguably our MVP this season.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Crosby, Stamkos, Toews, Kane, Tavarss and Malkin all took 5-6 year RFA deals.

Calm down

But of all those players, Stamkos is by far the best comparable, and his cap percentage was significantly lower than if Matthews signs at 10.5.

 

[Jozay]

What are the revenues and What is the cap in 5 yrs?

Go google some projections. They're out there.

 

[Judas Tavares]

Maybe we'll have a new GM in charge who didn't forgot to take Negotiating classes at Brock.

I took that class too, but it was too early in the morning.

 

[Aintboutdatlyfe]

Really? You may want to go back and re-read your previous posts. I have no ****ing idea what our roster is going to look like in 5 1/2 years. Safe to say Tavares will be on the decline at that point, who knows what kind of contract Rielly will have ...Freddy will be 35 years old at that point.

Tons of variables at play, this isn't as simplistic as you seem to think it is.

No team with AM, Mitch Marner, Nylander, Rielly, all in their primes (Not to mention we have tonnes of other great young pieces who will be in their primes), will be bad lol.

This is not as complicated as you're making it out to me, I have a better grasp on this than you do as I'm not currently blinded by anger, you should just hear me out...

 

[Rob Brown]

I don't like this at all.

 

[Hockey Crazy]

Considering the talent that Matthews is, I agree that this contract, while high, is the best course of action. However, not signing Matthews to 8x11 in the offseason will go down as Kyle Dubas' biggest error as a GM here. It was such an obvious thing to do and I think he over-thought it. That being said I think he will learn from it and be a great GM for us...

 

[DankinIT]

Arizona wont have a team when Matthews contract is expired. Not at all worried about that lol.

What I would worry is how much Matthews will want in 5 years on his next contract that is all UFA years.

Guess we will have to wait and see my friend

 

[LaPlante94]

If you think about it this way then it isn't too bad

 

[HellasLEAF]

I tell you what I'm not gonna do. Immediately hate Matthews once he signs his contract (re: Nylander).

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I think people are going crazy over term just because they've been told it matters so much, not because they actually care so much.

Maybe the shorter term will be a blessing, if any of these gets a major injury or anything. who knows? 6 years is a long ways away.

I don't think you've even convinced yourself that this is a blessing. I'd want the Leafs to sign their franchise player for 20 years if they could, potential major injuries be damned.

This is flat out Dubas getting bullied around again.

 

[IPS]

But of all those players, Stamkos is by far the best comparable, and his cap percentage was significantly lower than if Matthews signs at 10.5.

Oohhhh no, that's a discount outlier. We can't compare that. We need to compare with Crosby and Ovechkin even though he's proven nowhere near their level of play or their hardware.

 

[DanM]

Im the biggest matthews fan.....and im not happy with this contract at all.

Id be considering making rielly captain now as well. Its clear that the three kids only care about getting money.

Not impressed with our kids honestly. This has seriously rubbed me the wrong way with all three

Fully agreed

I have been a Leaf fan since birth, my grandparents are Leaf fans since birth, and we have season tickets.

But I have never been so disappointed as I am with these kids

 

[SprDaVE]

I've never seen that suggested other than to justify this deal, but it could be true. Kane isn't a goal scorer but his points per game numbers are similar, and his 5 year deal was only 11.09% of the cap which would put Matthews at 9.20 million. 11.5 is pretty rich in my opinion.

It's definitely high. We'll see the actual number when it's official. I was saying 6 years at 11M was perfect, expecting it to be 11.5M, which is still decent.

I hope the people that called Nylander "Melander" realize that players don't take discounts and actually want to get paid for their contributions.

 

[Jozay]

Its feb 5th and the Leafs are giving him 5 years 11.5 a year. No reason for this at all.

 

[Nineteen67]

Really? You may want to go back and re-read your previous posts. I have no ****ing idea what our roster is going to look like in 5 1/2 years. Safe to say Tavares will be on the decline at that point, who knows what kind of contract Rielly will have ...Freddy will be 35 years old at that point.

Tons of variables at play, this isn't as simplistic as you seem to think it is.

Freddy could be gone after two years.....the window is very narrow especially considering Marleau’s and Zaitsev contracts could hinder next year’s chances.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

It's definitely high. We'll see the actual number when it's official.

I hope the people that called Nylander "Melander" realize that players don't take discounts and actually want to get paid regardless.

I think his AAV will be max 11 million so the term obviously will be pretty small.

As I said (and saw you also say) 11 million x 6 is a very fair deal for all sides.

 

[Menzinger]

The thing is, if it gets raised, he will ask for 18M in 5 years. Doesnt matter if it is raised, they will look at the % he gets of the overall cap, we will be ****ed

And you have the option of paying the man his money or letting him walk. Pro sports has always been like this...

 

[Warden of the North]

I tell you what I'm not gonna do. Immediately hate Matthews once he signs his contract (re: Nylander).

 

[diceman934]

I am one of the most biased Matthews fans on this board, and 5 years at 11.5 per is a bad deal. No other way to put it. You sign for that short with no UFA years bought the AAV needs to be lower. Not only is 11.5 too much, but he probably walks to AZ once it’s done too if we don’t win any cups.

Dubas is removing all doubt. 11.5 for 5 years. What a joke. Now it is going to cost us 10 plus for Marner on a similar term. That is a joke. Those are 8 years numbers not 5 year deals.

We are setting the Market did it with Nylander and now Mathews. Those are the top of the heap contracts and not fair type deals he said he was looking to sign these guys at.

 

[DanM]

I tell you what I'm not gonna do. Immediately hate Matthews once he signs his contract (re: Nylander).

Sure

Tell me that when we never win a cup, have players walk because of cap, and watch Tampa sign Point for 8.5 and win a cup.

Or the Bruins, who never overpay, and always keep winning.


Sure

 

[MapleLeafs77]

Matthews is still going to be my favourite player on the leafs but this knocked him down a peg. Same goes to marner and nylander.

Rielly moves up a peg now in my books and I would consider him a serious canditate for the C.

I would seriously just give him 12.5-13 for 8 if thats what he is asking

 

[Pi]

You guys are nuts. If the cap goes to 85M, 11.5M is 13.5% of the cap. Every franchise player in the last 8 years has gotten between 15 to 17% of the cap.

Crosby - 17.4%
Ovechkin - 16.82%
McDavid - 16.6%
Toews/Kane - 15.22%,

And that is actually crazy, considering the CBA allows any player to ask for 20% of the cap, but it seems that all players realize that taking that much of the cap would be detrimental to building a team around them.

If Matthews asked for 15% of the cap, you're looking at 12.75M/year. If you wanted to sign Matthews to an 8 year deal, you are looking at 13M/year (15% of the cap). Is that a number you would be comfortable with? That 1.5M could mean the difference between signing Kapanen or not.

I think all of this is hard for Leafs fans to grasp because we've never really had a franchise player in the cap era. You wanted good players, now you have to pay them.

Crosby, Ovechkin and McDavid should not be comparable for Matthews. All three of them won multiple major awards. Matthews came close to a Rocket but besides that he hasn't been close to the other awards.

He's had injuries in two straight years as well.

Matthews is worth 11-12M but not on a short term deal. The term should have been 7 or 8 years.

 

[TimeZone]

No team with AM, Mitch Marner, Nylander, Rielly, all in their primes (Not to mention we have tonnes of other great young pieces who will be in their primes), will be bad lol.

This is not as complicated as you're making it out to me, I have a better grasp on this than you do as I'm not currently blinded by anger, you should just hear me out...

After Matthews takes a large chunk at 11.5 for a mere 5 years, who knows what Marner and Rielly will demand. Nobody is saying the Leafs will be bad, but this contract complicates things. I don't think the Leafs window is quite as wide as you're under the impression it is. There will certainly be plenty of changes over the next half a decade.

"I have a better grasp on this than you do" Well, if you insist.

 

[Mattavarner]

You guys are nuts. If the cap goes to 85M, 11.5M is 13.5% of the cap. Every franchise player in the last 8 years has gotten between 15 to 17% of the cap.

Crosby - 17.4%
Ovechkin - 16.82%
McDavid - 16.6%
Toews/Kane - 15.22%,

And that is actually crazy, considering the CBA allows any player to ask for 20% of the cap, but it seems that all players realize that taking that much of the cap would be detrimental to building a team around them.

If Matthews asked for 15% of the cap, you're looking at 12.75M/year. If you wanted to sign Matthews to an 8 year deal, you are looking at 13M/year (15% of the cap). Is that a number you would be comfortable with? That 1.5M could mean the difference between signing Kapanen or not.

I think all of this is hard for Leafs fans to grasp because we've never really had a franchise player in the cap era. You wanted good players, now you have to pay them.

I didn't realize there were only 5 franchise players in the league

Kopitar signed for 12% for 7 years coming off his ELC
Seguin signed for 12.5% for 8 years recently buying UFA years
Stamkos signed 11.66% for 5 years off his ELC
Barkov signed 8.08% for 6 years off his ELC (what a steal)
Eichel signed 13.33% for 8 years off his ELC (best comparable)
MacKinnon signed 8.63% for 7 years off his ELC (another steal)

so why is Matthews signing 13.5% for 5 years a good deal, when any of the above (particularly Eichel) would be a comparable