News Article: Toronto can put McDavid in a Maple Leaf jersey in three years

[HallOfGreatness4]

LINK

A realistic strategy is to keep an eye on McDavid and strike in three years time when the first opportunity presented itself. Three years from now, McDavid becomes a restricted free agent assuming that Edmonton does not resign him before he completes his entry level contract. By that time, the Oilers may well have difficulties getting itself under the salary cap as Edmonton have already committed $22,000,000 to just four players for the 2018 to 2019 season: Jordan Eberle ($6,000,000), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,000,000), Taylor Hall ($6,000,000), and Benoit Pouliot ($4,000,000). Even if the Oilers is willing to spend the maximum allowed, i.e., at the salary ceiling, for the 2018 to 2019 season, it would be a tall order to fill out the reminder of the roster (totalling 19 players, especially with players such as Nail Yakupov expecting a big raise on his second contract) seeing that the team has already tied up so much money on just four players. As such, Edmonton could face major challenges trying to free up enough cap space to resign McDavid by that time, much like how the Pittsburgh Penguins have little salary cap room to manoeuvre now having devoted a significant percentage of its salary cap to five players: Crosby, Marc-André Fleury, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin. In fact, the Oilers could find itself in cap jail, a situation that is reminiscent of how the Chicago Blackhawks had to dispatch key members of its Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2010, 2013, and 2015 having spent a large portion of its cap space to lock up Patrick Kane, Ducan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Jonathan Toews.

Any true levity to this? I know it's three years away. But I would like to think this is a decade Oiler here. Is this a real possibility or is there a chance the writer could be spot on?

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[Diamondillium]

Oh boy

 

[Del Preston]

Toronto just can't let it go.

McDavid will be signed to a massive extension in two years.

 

[HallOfGreatness4]

Toronto just can't let it go.

McDavid will be signed to a massive extension in two years.

From your words to Chiarelli's ears man...

Will we have the cap room to pull it off?

 

[The Bored Man]

November 30. McDavid plays in Toronto.

Salt in the wound for these clowns. Can't wait.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

The writer assumes way too much, his article is full of poor or negligent research, forgets entirely that any offer sheet can be matched, assumes that McDavid will WANT to sign an offer sheet, and the entire post reeks of fanboy. He thinks we'd turn down Rielly, Nylander, and Marner (yep, I'd say no) but thinks we'd meekly shrug our shoulders and let him go for four piddly firsts without even TRYING to ship out some other money?

No. I give it absolutely zero credence. It's a terribly written article by a desperate Toronto fan that just can't let the dream die. It's been laughed at all day long on Twitter.

Chicago didn't trade Toews or Kane or Keith. They moved secondary or tertiary players. Nashville matched Weber. Colorado matched Sakic. McDavid is going absolutely nowhere for at LEAST ten years.

 

[Diamondillium]

From your words to Chiarelli's ears man...

Will we have the cap room to pull it off?

It's Connor McDavid. You make the cap space.

 

[K1984]

Even if in some bizarro world where we didn't extend McDavid after year two, we would simply match whatever offer sheet the Leafs chose to give him. Done.

This article is based on the enduring fantasy that Leaf fans have that McDavid will someday play for their franchise. They do this with every single star player from southern Onatrio. Gretzky, Lindros, Stamkos, etc. They are a self parody at this point.

I can't wait to watch McDavid walk in there on November 30 and burn that team in front of a full house of Leaf fans and media. Hopefully Dave Hodge bought front row seats.

 

[JonathanK]

There's a boatload of teams that have 22 million tied up in 4 players. In fact, it's pretty healthy. First line forwards go for at least 5 million these days, and a team ideally should have three of those. If the cap was still 39 million this writer may have a point. Plus, if McDavid is as good as he's supposed to be he will be locked up long before he hits RFA status.

And cap jail? Please. Chicago has lost some pieces but they've kept their core intact and won three cups. If that's the definition of cap jail then count me in. Pay your most important guys, it's when you are overpaying bottom six and bottom pairing guys that things can get dicey.

 

[McTrashBoat]

So basically this pile of grammatical errors relies on the entirety of Oilers management to go into a 4 year coma and not signing McDavid before his ELC expires.

Shine on you salty leafs.

 

[T-Funk]

lol Toronto.

Even if Edmonton came across cap troubles because all of their players were such superstars that their salaries became astronomical, everyone else would be traded before him.

 

[BarDownBobo]

Even if in some bizarro world where we didn't extend McDavid after year two, we would simply match whatever offer sheet the Leafs chose to give him. Done.

This article is based on the enduring fantasy that Leaf fans have that McDavid will someday play for their franchise. They do this with every single star player from southern Onatrio. Gretzky, Lindros, Stamkos, etc. They are a self parody at this point.

I can't wait to watch McDavid walk in there on November 30 and burn that team in front of a full house of Leaf fans and media. Hopefully Dave Hodge bought front row seats.

I'm way too young to have any memory of it, but was there actually media speculation that Gretz wanted to go to Toronto while he was playing?

 

[Spawn]

I hope someone is compiling a compendium of all of these articles out of Toronto. It's an amazing look into the psyche of Toronto media.

 

[Soli]

No need to continue discussion...