basically all the big contracts will have to be underpaid by 1.5-2 mil each, as you're saying here. It's doable if everyone buys into the system... but if they don't even make the 2nd round with this team, don't expect everyone to be HUGE on taking a team friendly contract.

I don't see it. I think a shorter Matthews deal is considerably cheaper considering shorter deals tend to be considerably cheaper.

Same with Marner and kapanen.

I figure it looks like this.
Matthews 8@11-11.34
Matthews 6@9-9.34
Marner 8@8.5-9
Kapanen 2-3@2.5-3
Johnsson 2-4@2.25-2.75

Why? Comparable players and how contracts are given out for a start. The whole Point of taking off years is to get less AAV, do you really think it would even be considered if it was 500k to 1M? For just 1M more (the equivalent gained from a brown trade) you could get 2-3 more years of Matthews at a lower cap hit then what he would get on that 3rd deal.

Obviously. Thats why I expect another move that would help us get rid of cap space needed to sign all to what they would be their value. I dont think a guy like Kapanen would take paycut. Matthews, Marner would, they recruited Tavares into Toronto and Matthews has looked up to him. Like you said. Not everyone would take team friendly deal.. I would for that reason want another trade that would shed some salary.

I don't know why so many think the Leafs have to pay so much more to sign their RFAs than any other team. Matthews at 11m would make him the second player paid player in the league. To think he should be getting MVP McDavid money to me is obscene. Even Marner at 9.5m is getting the same money as Kucherov.

It is crazy to think Matthews at 11m and Marner at 9.5m is a discount.

I think your starting point for mathews May be a bit high on the 8yr term (I hope anyway). Seems more and more likely that we will not be signing Matthews to an 8 year deal. Hopefully he sees the benefit in negotiating a contract that works for both sides to keep this team competitive for as long as possible. I think if we can lock both mathews and marner at 21m mark on 8 year deals that would be optimal. I also don’t mind staggering their contracts either but would really like to see Matthews locked in to the longer term. Of course what I want and the reality of the situation may be two different things.

It'll be hard to compete with Tampa when their best players are better and making less than ours.

It's Chiarelli math.

I think Sammy broke down the terms in a more than a fair manner.

Mcdavid is worth above the league max. Matthews is worth about the league max. They both are (likely) taking team friendly contracts. Also with kucherov, there are basically no state taxes on that kind of money... so marner at 12 mil would be making about the same as kucherov at 9.5 mil.

Fair-ish point, but everyone said the same thing about the Nylander contract, and lo-and-behold he ended up signing for more than the guy everyone was trying to compare him to (Pasta).

True. I think the argument can also flip to the amount of endorsements that Marner would have as a player in Canada vs. USA.

Even Kapanen, 10 points before this season. 50 point pace this year and there are people arguing that he'll get 5million. Great player and we all love him, but his comparables are all cheaper. Wood signed a 4y x 2.75 , kase signed 3y x 2.6. I'd say kapanen might come in a bit higher but the leafs bias is definitely present

state tax is nearly Irrelevant. People put way too much stock into this. Marner makes WAYYY more with endorcenements signing in Toronto than kucherov's deal gives him. Agree on Mcdavid and Matthews though

YES! Fck.. I want Kapanen to sign Kase like deal.. that would be ideal for him and for Leafs.

Yes and no. The prevailing wisdom around here was that Nylander's cap hit would start with an 8, and it doesn't. He is making 1.4M more than Pastrnak, over the life of the deal, and actually has a smaller cap hit percentage than Pasta in the final 5 years.

The Nylander deal was bang on and he had to sit out 2 months to get it. The idea that Marner deserves millions more per year is absurd and the real question is where does Matthews really stand. The fans believe he is the second coming of Christ but the reality is that he hasn't been as good as advertised and is nowhere near the same caliber as McDavid. His cap should be Eichel's 10M x 8 and a 5 year deal should start with an 8, at most.

Sorry, don't continue this nonsense about taxes. Blue Jays and Raptors do not pay premium salaries because of taxes. Players do not personal tax rates You say the Leafs don't make out of the first round, but somehow the Leafs have the best players because of the salaries you want the Leafs to pay. I don't what it is maybe Leaf hate, but Leafs shouldn't be paying Matthews and Marner more than what other teams would be paying them.

It's not nonsense, these things exist. Canadian teams typically pay their free agents more.

Yes, but please read. It's not because of taxes. Smaller market teams in baseball always pay more. Raptors are not a a small market team but signed two of their stars, Lowry and DeRozan when they could have left as free agents.

Some NHL teams will have to pay because of their market size, whether and travel. One reason I think the Oilers will always have trouble attract UFA especially Americans is because of the worse travel schedule and maybe the worse weather. When Seattle joins the league and Arizona moves to the central division, Arizona is going to have a absolutely brutal travel schedule.