what the team should have been focused on is not overpaying anyone
overpaying your top players isn't any different than overpaying your middle or bottom tier player since it accomplishes the same thing which is wasted cap space
You misunderstand me. I believe that the valuation of talent is changing so whatever concepts you have now of overpaid/and underpaid will be outdated. I believe that when you hire analytic specialists then you are asking for your contracts to more closely reflect what analytics shows you. This is a fundamental change in view of who is worth what and for why. The only questions left to answer going down this road are if the redistribution of our salary structure creates a sustainable system, able to flirt with the cap ceiling without bloating over with immovable or devalued assets and secondly if the players we chose to give these deals to are the right players to carry the load for the team.
Personally, I think the idea is correct but that there is an imbalance between forwards and defence that I believe will have to be addressed via trade. Since the salary is focused to our most valuable assets, making a course correction can be a lucrative endeavour. I would rather be trying to move Nylander for a D or for depth and futures than I would having to add picks to move off Marleau again.
I DO think Marner et al are overpaid based on current cap structures around the league but I don't think those structures are efficient and I believe that the direction the Leafs are moving to, while outside the box, is a better approach. We'll see though