Quoting: GMBL
Matthews' contract being 14.25 -14.5M next year instead of 13.25M doesn't make any difference to the cap structure, it's still the same percentage roughly. The only difference is the real dollars. Covid didn't save the Leafs, it rendered their "overpays" useless, resulting in them having less cap to spend than anticipated which led to a lot of turnover. If the cap had gone up they might have had some more successful runs since they wouldn't constantly be losing their depth.
Quoting: Herb_Brooks
13.25 of 87 and 14.5 of 90+ is a difference of less than a full percent lol, if you actually think that covid benefitted the leafs then you are a bigger fool then I thought. the whole thing with the leafs is "you cant have 4 players taking up half your cap", if covid didnt hit, this wouldnt be the case, covid screwed the leafs, not bailed them out. not even a discusssion
Again:
Team A pays
4x4 with the intention of signing player to a 10x4 after that in order to take advantage of the immediate cap savings now, but more expensive in the later term (this is the leafs not getting full term)
Team B pays
7x8 to take advantage of the later cap savings when the cap goes up
Oh, but the cap doesn't go up.
Team B (not the leafs) now gets EXTRA screwed in the short term bc that extra 3 mill they had to pay is a bigger% of the cap then they thought it would be. Then in the long run that 7 mill is still a higher % of the cap than they thought it would be, so they get screwed again.
Team A, which didn't go for the full term (the leafs) gets screwed somewhat in the short term, but not really because those cap savings they thought they would get are now even MORE meaningful. Then the bridge deal expires, and the cap is much lower than they thought it would be at this point. Now because of this lower cap they only have to pay 9 mill on the new deal, meaning they benefit long term
You got hosed on the contracts yes, and the Tavares contract (which is different as a UFA)
With UFAs you generally underpay in the early years and then overpay as they age
But for young RFAs on long term deals it's the opposite, you overpay as they develop and then underpay as they hit their prime.
So more term=higher AAV
If you would have went full term on Marner, Matthews, Nylander, it would have cost you more in the short term with the expectation of savings in the long term
Then when the cap doesn't go up, you get screwed in the earlier years and don't get the relief in the later years
Covid bailed you out of the lack of term you got on them.
Now, you massively overpaid as if you were getting full term regardless even tho you weren't, but a longer term deal would have been even more affected by the cap stoppage