Quoting: palhal
The question shouldn't be why not, it would be why. I'm not against paying fair contracts, it's why should be the Leafs pay their own guys more than they should? I know it's subjective, it's not a question of haircuts.
For instance Marner...and I'll ask again, he is really worth of Kucherov money? Kuchervov who was two year away from being a UFA, a 85 and 100 point guy.
Is Marner worth Kucherov money? Right now? Probably not. Here is the thing though.
Kucherov scored 65 and 66 points in his first 2 complete NHL seasons at the age of 20 and 21 I believe. Marner was slightly behind that in year 1 and better in year 2. So far he's on pace to pass Kucherov's 3rd season totals of 85 points. So the question for me isn't about what he is now, but where he is going? And I think its pretty safe to say he's a special player. I'm sure a legion of "non hater" fans of other teams will jump all over that but its looking pretty accurate so far.
So what should we do? Many want more than anything for him to do the same thing as Kucherov, a 3 year bridge and then a massive 8 year deal, but that is really short sighted. I'd rather have a good idea of what the player is going to develop into and sign him to what it will take to get that 8 year deal coming out of the ELC. Otherwise you have a Tavares situation where he's looking for huge money in his late 20's.
UFA years and all that crap doesn't mean as much to me as others on here. I think players want certainty. They want security and stars want the big term. For me cost certainty with the core is the most important part of cap management and getting these guys for the lowest price it takes to get them locked up long term is a job well done. If that means Marner get's 9 million, Nylander 7.5 and Matthews 12, so be it. Its not ideal but its far from a problem, they will all more than earn that money.
It will though cause other issues on the roster, and you'll see a lot of turnover through the depth guys but that again shouldn't be a problem as long as the team puts a big focus on developing players and has prospects that develop, there won't be a problem there either.
TO is lucky, they have an elite core that is for the most part all really young.