Eh, Mitch is a bit overpaid but generally it's fine. There wasn't a 'good' contract among them but am and wn are fine. Not good, not bad, just fine.

I will say if Mitch was paid that much in an 8 year deal, he'd also be in that fine category

Matthews contract is good... because he is signed to it and on the leafs lol.

Nylander is fair and Mitch is a bit overpaid. Do I care? Nope.

Did the core need to be dismantled to fit these contracts as many suggested... nope. In fact all it did was force us to move out the bad contracts. The team is great and on a budget and I’ve come to learn that the cba is full of loopholes. Dubas and Pridham will navigate through it and the boys will play.

I was expecting a bunch a blabbering nonsense, but you both seem to have fair opinions on this. This was pretty much my opinion too, but I am honestly of the opinion now that even Mitch is adequately paid.

Want to know a crazy stat? Despite missing 11 games, Marner is still on pace to crack 90 points. (92 exactly) Most said there is no way he repeats 2018-19 season, but he is actually producing better..... It is insane.

You said it though.. I am not suggesting they are bargains.. They are just fine. Fine and fair.

Are they better then they were last year? Nope Are they going to be better next year? Maybe, but they have 1 D guy signed and 1 more RFA while the rest are UFAs so that's 5 D guys they have to sign or bring up. Couple that with no backup goalie. You can have 4 top paid guys on one team in the NHL and keep them together, nobody argued that. What everyone was saying are there is simply too many holes to fill which is proven accurate as their record indicates and next year won't be any easier. The fact that all 4 top paid guys are all up front shows how unbalanced the team is.

Ya I honestly don't understand people who expected Marner to do worse... "He only produced that much because he is playing with Tavares!" Yeah and they both signed long term contracts so he will be producing those numbers for the next 6 years. It doesn't matter if they are inflated because of Tavares, because neither of them are leaving anytime soon.

Generally when a player has inflated stats regression is a big worry, especially when it is so sudden. Look I am glad to be wrong on that (so far at least) but you can't expect massive spikes in production to be the normal for guys, even really good guys.

The individual players are better than they were last year, yes. Also not sure if you are keeping up with the Leafs, but they are 11-4 under their new coach. And they have won 5 straight. They are currently on pace for 95 points, which is amazing considering the brutal start they had under Babcock. They have absolutely no issues with depth other than a back-up goalie. Forwards are strong top to bottom, D-men are quite good considering their so called "holes". They have Rielly, Barrie, Muzzin, and now Holl who has been amazing this year. That top 4 is at least average if not above average. So other than a serviceable backup, the Leafs have had no issues with depth. The team isn't unbalanced, it is a new model of developing a team. Sign your core long term, let the cap rise and their salaries stay the same.

Also, for next year they have 16.6 million in cap space if the cap doesn't go up... They will have no issue signing and re-signing their D especially with Sandin and Liljegren coming up next year. Dermott and Holl will be re-signed.

Hutch is the backup, the team is playing great and as it was already stated, the team on paper is better. With the youth on this team they should continue to improve for years.

As things progress it will start to balance out. Have to be smart with assets and not throw them away for balance now.

As for their record... second in the Atlantic and one of the hottest teams going into the break. Hopefully they continue to improve. The coaching change is night and day and certainly plays to our strength. It’s a long window to compete.

I think they're all fair contracts. If the leafs didn't give it to them someone else would have. This is how I feel about the Burns and Karlsson deals, someone else would have paid the same or close to it. You can tell me I am wrong and give me some overly long explanation of it but you are not an NHL executive so I will listen not.

There is no way Matthews last summer Matthews the right to be paid the second highest player in the league. It was too high, especially for that term. I'll say the same for Marner. And certainly at the time, Nylander's contract was too high.
The fact the Leafs are at the cap max, have to go with a reduced roster, are a a top eight team in the NHL at best. (they haven't won a playoff round with this group) kinda shows their cap management hasn't been that good.

Don't know how you can say that some other teams would have offered those contracts to those players. As RFAs, especially Marner and Nylander who free to sign with any team after July 1st....but they didn't. Burns and Karlsson were about to free UFAs, traditionally a different pay structure than RFAs. Glad you mentioned Karlsson, betcha the Sharks are regretting that contract, and every other NHL executive who might have been on action of signing EK, is so glad that they didn't.

Just doing a little checking on their record. Hmmm 2nd in their division and oh wow. Right there with Pittsburgh for the most wins in the NHL since Keefe took over. Are they a flawless team, point me to any team that is perfect. Are they better than their record indicates? Yes.

It's funny to see stuff like this still. Just ignore everything except what you want to see to further your opinion. Next year's team will have at least 3 returning defenceman and Sandin (already NHL ready) and Liljegren who will be cheap and good contributors. They are fine and in much better shape than a lot of cap teams

When it happens before they turn 24 generally you can expect them to rise higher. Marner is still getting better, same with Nylander and Matthews. Their contracts are never going to be the problem. Overpaying vets and depth is where teams get in trouble. Dubas doesn't do that.

You can't look backwards when discussing a contract for a guy who is under 22. They will be judged by what they do in their contract years not before. What will Matthews be at 24? That is what we are paying for. If you pay guys for what they've done only, you get guys not making enough in their prime who want huge contracts in their late 20's that they will have trouble living up to. These contracts for the Leafs are fine.

The term for Matthews is a little low, but the cap hit is fair. At the time of signing, only Ovechkin had more goals per game than Matthews since entering the league. That is considering what he did as 18/19 year old. Crazy production for a rookie. Here is the kicker stat: G/60 for Matthews at the time of signing was 1.56... Next highest was 1.31. Ovechkin was 1.22. That is a massive difference. Matthews was vastly underplayed by Babcock. Imagine if he played Mcdavid minutes....

Auston Matthews at the time of signing (and now) is one of the best goal scorers in the NHL. If not the best. Worth being 2nd highest paid in the league no doubt. In a few years he likely won't even be top 5 highest paid anyway.

Still middle of the league as they are in one of the worst divisions so the net result is first round exit again?

Muzzin, Holl and Barrie all are up for grabs. I get Reilly, Morgan, Sandin and Lilegren are options but the former 2 are uproven so basically they need 2 solid D guys signed as UFAs at a minimum.

Or they can resign Muzzin and Holl. Look friend, you really like to say TO can't do anything except lose their players and not succeed. Their record is what it is for several reasons, many of which were corrected with the new coach. It stands to reason they will continue to tighten up their system and the results so far have been promising. I know you'd love to say "see leaf fans, nothing is going right." But you were one of many who said last year they have no chance and signing their core. You were in the group that said they are closer to a lottery team than a contender and now you are saying they will be 1st round fodder because why? Because they lost a bunch with a coach who's system and motivation style just didn't work. Now they are much improved but you don't want to see it because that means everything you and those like you keep saying is sound more hollow by the week.

No, I'm simply pointing to the results. This team is still unbalanced and that is exactly what led to multiple first round exits. Trying to front load the offense with talent and cap spend is not a good model in the cap era. Defense and goaltending wins championships with a couple stars on offense. The Leafs management doesn't get that for some reason. They have over $40M, 1/2 the cap, tied in 4 offensive players instead of spreading that around between defense, offense and goalie, this is a formula of what not to do in the NHL cap era. If the Leafs win a cup, I'll happily eat my words but sitting in no man's land without lottery picks is not a good place to be.

Hutch isn't a good backup and certainly not a backup you want to go into the playoffs with.

2nd in one of the worst divisions in the league doesn't say much. They are playing better, fair enough, but they still are not playing at the level of the top teams in the league. If the D prospects develop and the bottom 6 do well, fair enough but what other choice do they have but to hope that happens when they spend 1/2 the cap on 4 offensive players?

Bottom 6 are playing awesome and contributing. Leafs need to play better in front of hutch. He’s a perfectly capable backup.

Again the hottest team in the league since keefe took over. 11-4-0 and on a 5 game win streak. Look at the hole they had to dig themselves out of. 23 games into the season and 22 points.

Okay, what lead the multiple 1st round exits are the following.

Year 1 of the Matthews era.

TO finished 8th when no one expected them to make the playoffs. They lost to the best team in the league Washington in 6 games, all 1 goal games.

Year 2

TO was the 5th best team in the league and had to take on the 3rd best team in round one and went 7 games losing to Boston. This series wasn't as close as it looked

Year 3

TO is forced to take on Boston again, TO was the 7th best team in the league, Boston was the 3rd best. In that series TO was the better team at 5v5 but allowed a PP goal on half their Penalties and Babcock was soundly outcoached. They should have won that but stupid coaching decisions cost them the series.

Everything you mention is just the talking head rhetoric that people love to throw around. It's lazy, not well thought out and all around just wrong. For example, TO allowed less goals against than Tampa last year but zero people questioned Tampa's team balance or defence. This year, if you take out a handful of games TO's goals against drops dramatically and the underlying numbers suggest their defence is not bad, but that doesn't stop people like you from saying the same crap as usual. The reality is, TO is a good team that played like crap so start the season, fired their coach and now have the best record in the league since their new coach took over. Of course that doesn't matter because people like you will continue to say the same crap you always say because actual stats and results don't matter. The only thing that matters is your flimsy argument that makes you feel superior.

Results matter, your excuses don't. They are top heavy and not a balanced team, doesn't matter what happens in the regular season, against good playoff teams they will not win with that strategy.

Rielly, Muzzin, Barrie and Holl are a very good top 4. And Dermott and Ceci are at least half a deadly bottom pair. TO is a top level team.

Absolutes don't have a place in sports. Saying "They can't win with that strategy" is silly.

Labelling a young core as 1st round exits makes no sense. They are growing and getting better as a group.

Anyway, time will tell. The only thing that sucks is that all the people like you who make comments like that will never say jack when proven wrong.
If the Leafs made the conference finals this season nobody who said they would lose in the first round would say a thing.

LMAO, the funny part is the Leafs haven't proven me wrong in 50+ years; but I'll be the first to admit this season if I'm wrong they are more then a 1st round exit. Balanced teams have a chance to go somewhere, the Leafs aren't balanced right now just like what I said here last year also.