Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
I hear you on that, and sometimes getting a bad contract makes sense. If you are a team that is going into full rebuild mode, getting a few bad contracts makes sense if you can get other assets along with it. In the case of TO though, it doesn't make any sense. Dead cap space is a killer in this era. Look at Montreal, they aren't good enough to make the playoffs and really are in a tough spot. On one hand they do have some really good young players coming up, but they also have Webber and Price who are going to amount for 20 million in dead cap space in the near future which is going to handcuff them in such a huge wage and are almost impossible to trade. I also think most teams won't have an interest in bringing on anyone with tonnes of term left. For example, if I am Ottawa, I'd never want Vlasic, he has way too many years and judging by how quickly TO turned things around from the Kessel era to the Matthews era, having millions wasted in dead cap space for half a decade handcuffs you. With that being said, a rebuilding team can take on shorter bad contracts that will expire before big contracts from their new core will come into place. Cap management is a long and short term balancing act that so many GM's and most fans just don't wrap their mind around.
I generally agree. I think the Leafs are contenders as long as they have Matthews, Marner and Tavares. Adding a top RHD during that time could help them contend. Burns is all offense and very little defense, but he's on pace for almost 60 points with a bad team that isn't clicking. I think with the Leafs he'd get back to his usual 70 point pace.
Obviously, the Leafs don't want to make any move that makes it harder for them to re-sign their big three, around the same time. If Tavares wants to stick around, and Burns doesn't want to retire, it would be another Marleau situation.
But I'm not posting to say, "The Leafs need Burns." I'm posting in response to an earlier post that had the Leafs giving up Ceci and Liljegren to get Burns. Even though the Leafs aren't my team, I just saved them a top prospect, and chucked in Barrie, instead. Do you think 1M retention on Burns' long contract makes a difference?