2 screams im obsessed with the leafs

I love following all Canadian teams Herb! I desperately want a Canadian team to win the cup, even if it's the Leafs.

But yeah, I think the advanced stats crowd has been unfair to my man Josh (not just Leafs fans) and if Josh outscores Tyler, those advanced stats darlings will have to swallow a pretty bitter pill.

have they really been unfair? he gets 32 points a year for 5.5 million dollars for the next 4 years

He typically scores enough goals to be the 4th best goal scorer on a bad team and the 5th best goal scorer on a good team. So when posters say he is a glorified 3rd liner, I don't get it.

Like John said, a lot of us wants a canadien team to win the cup, just too scared to admit it. In my top 5 favorite teams, 3 are Canadien, and that includes the leafs

The real problem is the taxation rate in Canada. Out of 4 teams in the last dance were states that had no provincial income taxes. Vegas, Dallas and Florida. Players don't negociate salary but in the pocket revenu. A player will accept a contract for 20% less to play for Vegas. It is the same with Dallas and Florida. And I don't talk about weather and other things... 20 % least and you've got $16 millions more to spend for a good 2nd pair Dmen and a better goalie and a top 6 winger. It is not fair but the NHL like it this way. The only way to win a cup in Canada is a pandemy or a extremely good group of younters that build chemistry together or a magnificiant goalie like in 1993 series. Sorry to have shrink your bubble.

All fair points. I agree that it is harder to win in a High taxation state/province.

That being said: Players who play in major hockey markets get opportunities that others don't. Any star player that signs with the Habs for example, will have access to McDonald's & Tim's advertising dollars that are usually reserved for the Crosbys and McDavids of the league, because the commercials air in French.

Suzuki & Caufield for example will make more money off ad-revenue than off their salaries over the course of their careers and I'm fairly sure they can do that through corporations that can use tax deferral strategies that negate any of the disadvantages you are referring to.

Other than business considerations, players like to sign where they think they have a chance to win. I believe the Leafs would have won the cup if it had not been for the pandemic and the flat cap. They "should" have had money/cap to fix their Blueline, but all the money was spent on the forward group with a stagnant cap.

There is still some hope I guess. We will see. The Seattle model is interesting with no superstars.

Seattle's model took everyone by surprise. All teams talk about "rolling four lines", but this past season was truly about that for Seattle.

Not sure it's sustainable though.