Many consider the Toronto Maple Leafs chances of landing free agent center John Tavares on July 1 to be significantly less likely than the odds of signing fellow GTA native Steven Stamkos two years ago.
The Leafs put out all the stops for Stamkos (including bringing in the mayor of Toronto and corporate luminaries to give him an idea of how much he could make outside of his salary), but in the end the Markham native opted to return to Florida, with no state tax and a team that should compete for the Stanley Cup for the foreseeable future.
Tavares is 27 and at a crossroads in his career with the Islanders, an organization that has been mismanaged under former GM Garth Snow and has thrown a Hail Mary pass by bringing in Lou Lamoriello to right the ship. It is likely that Tavares will take a page from the Stamkos playbook and at least listen to outside offers during the five-day negotiating window prior to the beginning of free agency and that is when teams like the Leafs can make their case.
In his column in The Athletic on Tuesday, Arthur Staple believes Toronto to be the wild card in the Tavares sweepstakes and that if the Leafs make a pitch, he will listen to his hometown team.
The question before Toronto GM Kyle Dubas is whether he can afford Tavares with contracts for William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews needing to get signed over the next 12 months. It will take some creative cap management and some out of the box thinking from the Leafs to make this happen, but that is something that Dubas indicated he would do at his debut press conference as GM to make the club better.
What that exactly means, we will find out over the next month.
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The NHL buyout window opens on Friday and the Maple Leafs are not expected to go down that road this summer. The collateral damage of previous buyouts have dropped off the radar with the end of the 2017-18 season, as the final year of the buyouts on defensemen Tim Gleason and Jared Cowen have expired.
That opens up over $2 Million in cap space for 2018-19, but that will be used up by the bonus overages on the entry-level contracts of Nylander, Marner and Matthews.
The only possible buyout consideration for the Leafs could be forward Matt Martin, who has two years left on a four-year, $10 Million contract. The big winger played only three games after the All-Star break and lost his fourth line role to speedier and more skilled forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.
There are two factors that would not make Martin a likely buyout candidate for the Leafs. In the remaining two years of the deal, the amount of signing bonus owed on July 1 is $2.5 Million ($1.5 Million in 2018-19, $1 Million in 2019-20), which would only allow the Leafs to save $500,000 on the cap over the final years of the deal and would allocate $250,000 for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
The other factor is that Martin may still have value on the trade market for a team looking for toughness in the post-Tom Wilson era. After July 1, when the Leafs pay the $1.5 Million bonus, Martin would only be owed $1 Millon for the year, but would have a cap hit of $2.5 Million, which might be a valuable asset to a team on a budget looking to reach the cap floor, which will go up if the cap ceiling goes up this summer.
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The Maple Leafs announced that they are changing their ECHL affiliation from the Orlando Solar Bears to the Newfoundland Growlers beginning next season. The Solar Bears have been the Leafs affiliate since 2013-18, but the switch returns the Toronto organization to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where the club had their American Hockey League for 14 years before moving them to Toronto.
“We are excited to begin our relationship with the Newfoundland Growlers as our newest ECHL affiliate,” Dubas said in a press release. “This is an important investment for our hockey club as we remain committed to giving our players the best resources possible to ensure their development and professional success. To now have our ECHL affiliate in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a town and province which has historically meant a lot to the Maple Leafs, is a truly special opportunity.”
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It all comes down to one game to determine the Calder Cup Final between the Texas Stars and Toronto Marlies. After winning their first seven home playoff games at Ricoh Coliseum, the Marlies have lost two straight to the Stars, who rode the goaltending of Mike McKenna and scoring of veterans Curtis McKenzie and Travis Morin to a 5-2 victory in Game 6.
“It’s been a long season. We’ve been together for a long time. We’ve accomplished a lot of things together as a group, and you get a chance here to play on the final day. No games left. No hockey left.” Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe said on Thursday morning. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be there, but one that we’ve earned and we’re incredibly excited.”
While the Marlies will need a better effort throughout their lineup, the focus will be on the top line of Carl Grundstrom, Miro Aaltonen and Andreas Johnson and goaltender Garret Sparks.
“The Scandinavian Connection” have been held to one assist in three home games during the Final after scoring a combined six points in a 6-2 rout of the Stars in Game 5. Sparks had arguably his worst performance of the playoffs on Tuesday, allowing four goals on 17 shots before being pulled in the third period.
“You’ve gone through the process of getting an opponent that we’d never seen to now having gone through six battles with (Texas).” Keefe said. “You know exactly what you’re in for here in a Game 7 and you need to kind of take all of the different things that you’ve learned through that series and apply them here to be at our absolute best.”
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