Quoting: CaptainFlynnt
My personal opinion, but I don't think anyone will offersheet Marner for $11M per year. That's a massive contract and a ton of draft picks to give up (where as you could sign panarin for $11M and give up no draft picks).
I think it should have been easy to sign Marner for 8 yrs × $10M, however after giving Matthews $11.6M and somehow only getting him for 5 years and not 8, Marner has a lot more leverage with the leafs.
If I'm Marner's agent:
- If Matthew's is worth $11.6M on a 5 year deal, what was he worth on an 8 year deal?
- Why is Marner not worth the same or close to the same as Matthews?
I'm baffled by that contract still, and again my personal opinion, but I think Matthews will be traded. Reminds me of when MTL only signed Galchenyuk for his last 3 RFA years (meaning he would be UFA at the end of his contract). The writing is on the wall, TOR (just like MTL) isn't gonna let Matthews get to UFA status, he will be traded.
Nice post , Captain.
I agree with your thinking here. I don't think AM gets to free agency either, he'll either be resigned or traded. A JT situation like what the islanders went through is something that should be avoided.
There's lots of talk on the changing rfa landscape, and with good reason. The big takeaway that I'm left with is that there is an increasing disconnect between a fanbase's interpretation of a players allegiance and a player's interpretation of that.. rfa or ufa.
I think the days of life long players for one team, like Yzerman, Lemieux etc are long dead and gone. Crosby might do it, maybe Ovie, maybe a couple others.. but I see it as increasingly rare.
With 31 teams, soon to be 32, and the increasing parity across the league, both individuals and teams are realizing how hard it is to win a cup and how limited a window could be for both an individual and a team. It must be a hard pill for a guy like Thornton or Marleau. Amazing careers and yet, no cup.
Ive dropped the notion that any player will or should be loyal to one team. I find it easier to manage the cognitive dissonance..