matthews and willy return

I know Leafs fans dont wanna hear this, but it seems very unlikely that Matthews returns once his deal ends. He signed that term for a reason and unless Toronto can make a legit run (like ECF or SCF), he will have no reason to stay besides that 8th year. Toronto media is about as brutal as it gets and with how bright Arizona is looking, he will have tons of options for teams with cap space looking to contend. Just my opinion, we still have a while to wait and see tho

Hopefully but not impossible. The next year would be interesting as JT is going to see his halved at least I bet. Even if Marner goes to 12 million it'll be manageable through JT's money coming off the books. I will say though, I doubt Dubas will ever deviate from looking for cheap depth guys. Why would he? He keeps finding great value in those contacts. Maybe if you find the right situation you spend 3-4 million for a guy but the difference between a lot of guys making 2+ million are so easily replaceable by a league minimum deal that really fits a role on the team.

So drop guys like Brown, someone will pay him more and you can find what he brings for a better value. Like Kampf is such a value contract but if he wanted 4 million let's say, why not just give the job to Holmberg and find other value elsewhere. It works and will always work so long as the top players, elite stars make big bucks. Like every year will have a new Spezza like story. A vet still with some gas in the tank signs for league minimum, when he could have got more elsewhere. So long as they keep contending anyways.

This is just a silly take. Not everyone is JT.

We have seen it time and time again stars return to their draft teams

Only 2 in recent history have left (Tavares and Gaudreau) and for Gaudreau he probs wishes he stayed as look at the CBJ record vs Calgary's

Meanwhile Malkin, Ovie, Barkov, etc stayed with their teams despite the recent issues.

Matthews knows Toronto will give him the most money and nobody has a Marner. Matthews gives 0 ****s about the media as u can see it in his interviews rarely shows emotion and doesnt get swayed. Hes perfect for this cirty. Arizona has no future. Like who do they got rn thats gonna make him go I want to go there. The answer nobody. Their goaltending, Dcore, everything is worse than what he has rn. And who knows Arizona might not even have a team by the time hes a UFA.

The best part of this is just how off base it is. Both him and Dubas said they discussed going longer but it would have been higher, 8 years was rumored to be 13 million. Matthews said he absolutely loves it in TO and this preseason said he sees Toronto as his home. He's really became himself and loves being who he is in TO. Most pundits say he's going to be a leaf for life. But hey, 90% of people on here want him to leave so badly that they only hear that no matter what being said by Matthews himself.

And Matthews this fall said he see Toronto as his home.