Quoting: palhal
I've been critical of Leaf management for decades except for few brief spurts. The end of the Quinn era, Ferguson, Burke never had any appreciation of the cap or the development of young players. Now I don't what Leaf management Shanahan and his high price executives were doing when they let young Dubas be railroaded with those 3 big overpays on the RFAs deals. And Babcock...a terrible game manager and now I think the team is so turned off by his ineffectiveness, it's a bad situation for the Leafs resulting in all likelihood missing the playoffs this year.
I will speak only of the current regime since I'm actively repressing the memories of years passed.
1) This is likely Babcocks last season unless the buds go deep in the playoffs so he'll likely prove you wrong or you'll get your way. Congrats on the win-win scenario! #Keefe2020
2) I don't think Dubas got "railroaded" per se. The results are controversial as they stand today and will all depend on how the big 3 develop in the coming years and how much the cap is expected to rise. With new TV deals and additional revenue streams, there's a chance it goes way up and these contracts start looking like more of a bargain as the years go on. Since Pridham (the guy who wrote the salary cap rules) is the AGM I'm guessing that's why they were only willing to go long term on those deals.
3) Nylander is worth his contract already, In a world where Kevin Hayes exists this should be straightforward but feelings are still hurt from last season
4) Matthews is still the youngest player on the team and is easily leading them in goals. Imagine how good he will be in a few years. People are upset that he only signed for 5 years (which, and this is true, is half a decade) and had the 2nd highest cap hit in the league when he signed it. Based on previous results and his potential for growth, the contract makes sense. It's quite possible (and hear me out!) there are elite players who signed for far less than they were worth *points to Mackinnon* and we shouldn't expect our players to make the same horrible decisions.
5) Marner definitely got overpaid by at least a million. No doubt he's elite but the Tavares-effect tends to get players far too much on their next contract. Hopefully the rise in cap makes this overpay tolerable.
6) There are no terrible/dead contracts on this team that go into next season. I rather have a cumulative overpay (which is debatable) on Matthews, Nylander and Marner than one David Backes, Bobby Ryan, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd, Loui Eriksson, Brent Seabrook etc.