Where The Leafs Went Wrong Financially

Forums/Armchair-GM

Page 1 of 2

Created by: Agent_Of_R9

Team: 2021-22 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Oct. 19, 2021

Published: Oct. 19, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

I always say that the Leafs big 3 is worth their salary when they are able to play at their best, and I maintain that belief. Obvious the issue is they're not at their best consistently, or when the team needs them most, but that falls on the players and not so much on the general manager.

What I will say is that the Leafs front office made a mistake financially when it comes to paying their top winger. For me, the foundation of a contending team should consist of 2 elite centers, 1 solid two-way 3C, 4 solid defencemen and a starting goalie. Everything else can be filled out sparingly because the core of the team should be strong enough to carry the team to results.

No team should be paying a winger 11 million dollars unless he is the star player on a team with no elite centers. A good winger on a team with 2 elite centers like Toronto should get around 5-6 million maximum. That's ultimately where Toronto went wrong. They could've had Kapanen, Hyman, Brown and Nylander as their wingers and saved plenty of money for a legitimate 3C and 4D. Now they are stuck in a situation in which they have to pay league 1-2 million and hope guys can play over their head in that role.

Free Agent Signings

CREATED	YEARS	CAP HIT
Kadri, Nazem	1	$4,500,000
Marner, Mitchell	2	$5,000,000
McCann, Jared	2	$2,900,000

Trades

TOR

Weegar, MacKenzie

FLA

Kadri, Nazem

Additional Details:

*2019 Trade

TOR

Cizikas, Casey

NYI

*Signed As Free Agent

TOR

Hall, Taylor

BOS

*Signed As Free Agent

TOR

Lafrenière, Alexis

NYR

McCann, Jared

Retained Salary Transactions

Phil Kessel: $1,200,000 (15%)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2022
2023
2024

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
22	$81,500,000	$80,396,783	$0	$2,850,000	$1,103,217

Roster

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Hall, Taylor $6,000,000$6,000,000 LW NMC UFA - 4	Matthews, Auston $11,640,250$11,640,250 C UFA - 3	Marner, Mitchell $5,000,000$5,000,000
Lafrenière, Alexis $925,000$925,000 ($2,850,000$3M) LW, RW RFA - 2	Tavares, John $11,000,000$11,000,000 C, LW NMC UFA - 4	Nylander, William $6,962,366$6,962,366 RW UFA - 3
Ritchie, Nick $2,500,000$2,500,000 LW UFA - 2	Cizikas, Casey $2,500,000$2,500,000 C UFA - 6	Kämpf, David $1,500,000$1,500,000 C UFA - 2
Bunting, Michael $950,000$950,000 LW UFA - 2	Spezza, Jason $750,000$750,000 C, RW UFA - 1	Kase, Ondrej $1,250,000$1,250,000 RW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Rielly, Morgan $5,000,000$5,000,000 LD NMC UFA - 1	Brodie, TJ $5,000,000$5,000,000 LD/RD NTC UFA - 3	Mrázek, Petr $3,800,000$3,800,000 G M-NTC UFA - 3
Muzzin, Jake $5,625,000$5,625,000 LD NTC UFA - 3	Weegar, MacKenzie $3,250,000$3,250,000 LD/RD UFA - 2	Campbell, Jack $1,650,000$1,650,000 G UFA - 1
Sandin, Rasmus $894,167$894,167 LD UFA - 1	Dermott, Travis $1,500,000$1,500,000 LD/RD UFA - 2

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Amadio, Michael $750,000$750,000 RW, LW UFA - 1		Kerfoot, Alexander $3,500,000$3,500,000 LW, C, RW UFA - 2
Biega, Alex $750,000$750,000 RD UFA - 1		Simmonds, Wayne $900,000$900,000 RW, LW NTC UFA - 2
		Marner, Mitchell $10,903,000$10,903,000 RW UFA - 4
		Mikheyev, Ilya $1,645,000$1,645,000 LW, RW UFA - 1
		Holl, Justin $2,000,000$2,000,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 2
		Engvall, Pierre $1,250,000$1,250,000 RW, LW UFA - 1

Special Teams

Power Play 1
Nylander, W.		Tavares, J.		Lafrenière, A.
	Spezza, J.		Sandin, R.

Power Play 2
Marner, M.		Matthews, A.		Ritchie, N.
	Rielly, M.		Hall, T.

Penalty Kill 1
	Cizikas, C.	Kase, O.
	Weegar, M.	Brodie, T.

Penalty Kill 2
	Kämpf, D.	Ritchie, N.
	Muzzin, J.	Dermott, T.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:19 p.m.

Agent_Of_R9

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Thoughts on my analysis and this armchair team?

Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:39 p.m.

Abroot

Joined: Oct. 2020

Posts: 461

Likes: 218

Quoting: Penguins_Legend_Sheary

Thoughts on my analysis and this armchair team?

I would like you to explain that NY trade. Please. And is 11 mil per year a bit high for both Tavaras and Marner? Ya sure but think of this Tavaras was an UFA and he was gonna get paid UFA's get paid. Marner is a bit high sure I'd persoanlly want him at 9.5 per year but no way is he as low as 5 mil per year. The guy is a point per game in in career and hes been over a point per game his last three years.

Masonh618 liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:43 p.m.

Faulk_my_Dzingel

Smythe.over.Hart

Joined: Jul. 2019

Posts: 3,035

Likes: 2,350

Always a pleasure to be part of these. Would we be discussing these salaries this much if Covid never occurred? I don’t know. I still think Marner is overpaid by 1.5 mil and needed 2 more years on the contract. Matthews should have been an 8 year deal no question.

But I also truly believe that if Covid had not occurred we would be seeing 13 million dollar AAV contracts today.

Masonh618 liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:45 p.m.

ChiHawk

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 19,026

Likes: 9,322

You can win with a high paid center and winger; Chicago did it with Toews and Kane 3 times, 2 of which when they were the highest paid players in the league. That said, they also had an unbelievable defense and goal tending along with one of the best two way wingers of all time in Hossa.

Hammerwise liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:57 p.m.

Agent_Of_R9

Thread Starter

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Quoting: Abroot

I think Cizikas is the ideal 3C, so I signed him in hindsight. Most of the analytics community that Marner is a fringe 2nd line winger on most teams, he’s just been really lucky to play with really good players.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPboBAugk0y/?utm_medium=copy_link

Oct. 19, 2021 at 7:59 p.m.

Agent_Of_R9

Thread Starter

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Quoting: faulkmydzingel

Yeah I definitely think the Leafs were the most handicapped team by Covid. But honestly, regardless if the cap rises or not, you can’t pay so much money to complimentary winger.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 8:01 p.m.

Agent_Of_R9

Thread Starter

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Quoting: ChiHawk

Yeah for sure it’s a no brainer to pay Kane 10.5 million. He’s won the Hart, Art Ross, 3 cups. He’s proven he can lead his own line. Marner on the other hand is a 2nd liner in terms of pedigree, he shouldn’t have gotten more than 5 from the Leafs. And generally, I think contending teams should limit 10+ million dollar players to one in each of the top 2 lines.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 8:17 p.m.

ChiHawk

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 19,026

Likes: 9,322

Quoting: Penguins_Legend_Sheary

I think Marner should have definitely gotten more then $5M. I agree he's overpaid by $2M to $3M especially at the time of signing, but $5M is a big stretch.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 8:27 p.m.

CMcAvoy73

Banned

Joined: Apr. 2021

Posts: 14,017

Likes: 4,585

Quoting: Penguins_Legend_Sheary

Yeah I definitely think the Leafs were the most handicapped team by Covid. But honestly, regardless if the cap rises or not, you can’t pay so much money to complimentary winger.

They were given a year in a cupcake division with an easy route to the conference finals.

ChiHawk liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 8:28 p.m.

#10

CMcAvoy73

Banned

Joined: Apr. 2021

Posts: 14,017

Likes: 4,585

It’s just a flawed concept. Three guys making that much at the forward position is never going to work.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 8:45 p.m.

#11

Riley816

Joined: May 2018

Posts: 5,062

Likes: 2,008

Remember when Nylander was the bad guy for holding out for 7 mil??

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:00 p.m.

#12

Agent_Of_R9

Thread Starter

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Quoting: ChiHawk

I think Marner should have definitely gotten more then $5M. I agree he's overpaid by $2M to $3M especially at the time of signing, but $5M is a big stretch.

Yeah maybe he's a 9 million dollar player on the open market but I don't think the Leafs should've kept him since they're already paying that type of money for 2 centers which is more important.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:02 p.m.

#13

Agent_Of_R9

Thread Starter

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Quoting: Riley816

Remember when Nylander was the bad guy for holding out for 7 mil??

Leaf fans had every reason to be angry at Nylander for that abysmal 40 point pace season. But that doesn't mean he can't flip the script.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:03 p.m.

#14

Agent_Of_R9

Thread Starter

Marner Enthusiast

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 4,396

Likes: 996

Quoting: CMcAvoy73

It’s just a flawed concept. Three guys making that much at the forward position is never going to work.

Agree, I think you can still have 2 if they're really good like PIT's centers, but 3 is too much. One 10 million player per line is enough.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:10 p.m.

#15

Abroot

Joined: Oct. 2020

Posts: 461

Likes: 218

Quoting: Penguins_Legend_Sheary

No no no you know which NY trade i was talking about not that one lol

Masonh618 liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:43 p.m.

#16

Masonh618

MGITBPITNHL

Joined: Aug. 2020

Posts: 3,507

Likes: 1,535

I'm confused why that Rangers trade is there. Is this ACGM assuming that Toronto won the draft lottery?

Riley816 liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:46 p.m.

#17

Riley816

Joined: May 2018

Posts: 5,062

Likes: 2,008

Quoting: mhroblak

I'm confused why that Rangers trade is there. Is this ACGM assuming that Toronto won the draft lottery?

And is that Weegar trade serious?? Doubt Florida even thinks about it even 2 seasons ago...

Masonh618 liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:47 p.m.

#18

BsInOttawa

Joined: Dec. 2017

Posts: 471

Likes: 153

Tavares was the move that has them in trouble.
They had a 30 goal scoring #2 center, they didn't improve much for that money.

ChiHawk liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:51 p.m.

#19

Masonh618

MGITBPITNHL

Joined: Aug. 2020

Posts: 3,507

Likes: 1,535

Quoting: Riley816

And is that Weegar trade serious?? Doubt Florida even thinks about it even 2 seasons ago...

From reading the description it looks like that Nazem Kadri was the asset to acquire a top 4 defenceman, which I would say is more practical than not. However, MacKenzie Weegar is more valuable than that, especially at his cap hit.

ChiHawk and Riley816 liked this.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 9:55 p.m.

#20

ChiHawk

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 19,026

Likes: 9,322

Quoting: Penguins_Legend_Sheary

Yeah maybe he's a 9 million dollar player on the open market but I don't think the Leafs should've kept him since they're already paying that type of money for 2 centers which is more important.

JT was the move that shouldn't have been made IMO, not at that cap hit anyway

Oct. 19, 2021 at 10:03 p.m.

#21

Newgod77

Joined: Jul. 2018

Posts: 1,254

Likes: 729

Quoting: ChiHawk

Kane and Toews haven’t won anything since those contracts kicked in.

Oct. 19, 2021 at 10:26 p.m.

#22

odyssey

H.Lindholm Lover

Joined: Apr. 2021

Posts: 3,598

Likes: 921

okay nhl GM who definitely would have been able to sign mitch marner for 5 million because of how much better you are than every other GM. he turned down more money to stay in toronto.

yeah we can say they went wrong letting most of those players go. but at the time it made sense. nhl GMs dont have a magic mirror that shows them what the future holds

Oct. 20, 2021 at 12:35 a.m.

#23

ChiHawk

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 19,026

Likes: 9,322

Quoting: Newgod77

Kane and Toews haven’t won anything since those contracts kicked in.

That is true, they were both at $6.3M prior

Newgod77 liked this.

Oct. 20, 2021 at 5:13 a.m.

#24

Hammerwise

Joined: Aug. 2018

Posts: 6,317

Likes: 2,227

Quoting: ChiHawk

True, but look at CHI, they had huge high end salaries in Toews and Kane, but also Seabrook, Keith and Crawford, way different than 4 high paid forwards. PITTS had Malkin and crosby, but also Letang and Fleury, LA had Kopitar, Doughty and Quick.

Toronto's issue is all their high end is at forward. Between their big 3 at 10mil plus, they have only 3 guys between that and 1.6mil (and no rookie ELC) in Nylander 7mil, Kerfoot 3.5 and ritchie 2.5, thats a huge chasm.

Chicago while not winning the cup since have until the last year or two stayed competitive and played well into the playoffs, even when adding/having other big salaries like shaw, saad, hjalmarsson, etc... Chicago just got old and all 5 big salaries got old with them, but for many years they were able to add what they needed to stay competitive.

(Not saying Toronto isnt competitive, but the over reliance on essentially 8 of their 22 players is not making them better)

ChiHawk liked this.

Oct. 20, 2021 at 8:51 a.m.

#25

hanson493

Joined: Jun. 2019

Posts: 5,617

Likes: 2,763

Weegar hadnt become the superstar talent he is with florida yet. He didnt break out until after the barrie/kadri trade occured. and the trade filled a need they did acquire a top 4 dman. the only problem with the deal was they acquired the wrong type of dman, they already had a puck moving pp qb in reilly. barrie was completely unnecessary. I know you signed czikas/hall and somehow got laf. but i doubt those moves happen with toronto.

Page 1 of 2 (12 more posts)

DISPLAY SETTING

BETTING ODDS

LOCALE

ARCHIVE

CBA

CALCULATORS

FANTASY HOCKEY TOOLS

TOOLS

PLAYERS

WESTERN CONFERENCE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

INTERACTIVE FEATURES

Forums/Armchair-GM