Quoting: Byrr
The point is that the OP is telling people to stop making AGMs where other teams sign Hyman like its not an option. Hyman returning to the Leafs is far from a guarantee and money would be the top reason for it. You say money is an advantage for Toronto but lets face it, almost half the teams in the league were over the cap using LTIR relief this season. Its clearly not an issue for most. The issue Toronto has is cap space and just in general bad economics for big salaried players in Canada.
Contract breakdown offer from Toronto that would be likely similar:
6 years x $4.75M cap hit, full NMC for first 4 seasons of the deal, 5th season is a limited NTC of 10 teams Hyman would accept a trade to, 6th season is a limited no trade clause of 20 teams Hyman would accept a trade to.
Year 1 - $6.5M signing bonus + $750K base salary = $7.25M total
Year 2 - $5M signing bonus + $750K base salary = $5.75M total
Year 3 - $5M signing bonus + $750K base salary = $5.75M total
Year 4 - $3.5M signing bonus + $750K base salary = $4.25M total
Year 5 - $2M signing bonus + $750K base salary = $2.75M total
Year 6 - $2M signing bonus + $750K base salary = $2.75M total
In the first 3 seasons Hyman receives 65.7% (that's 2/3) of the total money from the entire contract. With the style of play that Hyman plays, his play and production are likely to deteriorate over time so Hyman gets the insurance of a front loaded, bonus heavy contract in his pocket now with term, while the Leafs bring down the cap hit to help fit him in the overall cap. Hyman gets paid the most during his most productive years, then as he likely tails off makes him an easy buyout candidate, or at very least a very moveable contract to a team with less real money and in need of the cap hit to hit the floor. There might be 5 teams in the league that can offer Hyman a deal like this, and because of the pandemic that list may be even smaller. So he's staying in Toronto and Toronto has the advantage of money on their side.