It wouldn’t be surprising if more hockey players that are top players go short term. As the cap grows, their pay checks will look bigger. Think about the NBA and how everyone is doing short term high salary contracts. Maybe this becomes a new trend.

Definitely think this is happening. Look at with Mathews, and Aho's ask. I think top RFAs are figuring out that they contribute the most value to their teams often and want to be paid accordingly. And they are beginning to understand that prime years are much lower than the 30s, and teams are cautious to aging curves. Therefore, going shorter on the 2nd contracts maximizes their earnings by still being able to sign a lucrative 3rd contract.

Aho signed for way less than what he's worth though.

Yeah I agree with that, but you could see it from his side, he got the term he wanted which was the important thing, and he got all that money upfront with the signing bonus. Maybe he wanted more per year, but then maybe MTL does not do the offer sheet for him at the higher tier. In the end, he passes on more money per year for the term and singing bonus he knew CAR would not offer outright.

Agreed. But Marner clearly doesn't wanna go that route lol

Yeah, definitely.

He doesn't want to and people who don't understand the Toronto market are baffled by that. Here's a quick explanation of why Marner gets more by staying with the Leafs even if he signs for 8 million I suggested back in January and 7+ here in this ACGM: he's a hometown kid and big corporations and smaller businesses will be tripping over themselves to get a sponsorship deal with Marner.

That means whatever loss people think may feel on lower salary with the Leafs, he will MORE THAN make up for it in sponsorships.
He doesn't get this same opportunity of sponsorship deals anywhere else, not at the same level as he will with the Leafs.

Excellent job bcapp
love this

He signed an offer sheet. He got offered more than his team was offering him.

He didn't sign for less than be was worth. The market is lower than we all thought

Aho came out and said he wanted to stay in Carolina and this was the fastest way to make that happen. Judging "the market" on one player's contract is ridiculous. Especially considering this same team just gave another RFA over 11 mil.

If you wanna bring up sponsorships then don't forget about the crazy taxes in toronto plus higher cost of living.

Taxes are overblown in the grand scheme of things. Paying taxes on 41 home games..the numbers aren't as high as one thinks initially.
@palhal mentioned the god-like status that former Leafs players have even though they never made it out of the conference finals. If Marner craves that, there's plenty of that for him as well.

The sponsorship deals he will get as a Leaf will not be as good as anywhere else.

Well I think we all did. But without an offer sheet paying him more....what could Aho really do? Same with Marner. Let's imagine 10m is fair. But no team is putting in an offer sheet. And Leafs top offer is 9m. What is Marner to do? Sign in Europe for 2m? Play pick up hockey with his Markham school buddies (no pay). Just settle for 9m from the Leafs.

Isnt he paid in USD while spending in CAD ?

And what oneX said....