Scott Hartnell is the latest to get a long term contract extension signed with the looming specter of a new collective bargaining agreement limiting the length of player contracts. The mega deals of Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise notwithstanding, a number of teams have shown the willingness to get their core players locked up to lengthy deals under the wire.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not likely to be one of those teams.
Flyers GM Paul Holmgren took advantage of the fact that Hartnell was in the final year of a contract at the end of the 2012-13 season, which made him eligible to extend his deal and that he wanted to stay in Philadelphia, where he has blossomed since being acquired from Nashville in 2007.
While the Leafs have Mikhail Grabovski, John-Michael Liles and the recently acquired James van Riemsdyk beginning multi-year deals, two of Toronto’s main cogs; team captain Dion Phaneuf and winger Phil Kessel, have two years left on their current contracts. Even if GM Brian Burke was predisposed to locking them up for seven or eight years, he could not do so until the end of this season, when the new CBA will be in effect.
None of the players currently on the Leafs roster eligible to sign extensions are valuable enough to make a substantial financial investment on. The only player that a case could be made for is Joffrey Lupul, who will be a UFA at the end of this season. Based on his history of injuries and transient ways throughout his career, it is highly doubtful that
Toronto would offer anything more than a three or four year deal for the veteran forward.
Where the extension scenario could affect the Leafs is with teams such as Anaheim, who have franchise-caliber forwards like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry in the last years of their deals. GM Bob Murray will likely be trying to get both stars signed to big deals throughout the year, but if he fails to do so by the trade deadline, it is highly probable that the Ducks will trade one or both players to at least recoup a part of their value before walking away for nothing. Under that scenario, the playoff desperate Leafs could be the team most desperate to make a deal.
Would you sign Lupul to an extension??
Are there any other eligible Toronto players you would want to see them sign for five or more years??
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Various Twitter reports have indicated that the Toronto Marlies have signed former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Paul Ranger to a contract.
The specifics of the deal have not been reported, but this signing is likely a response to losing veteran Matt Lashoff last week, as he signed with a team in Switzerland.
The 27 year native of Whitby, Ontario was drafted by the Lightning in the sixth round(183rd overall) in 2002, and played 270 games between 2005-2009, but was granted leave from the club early in the 2009-10 season for personal reasons.
According to Tampa Bay Times hockey reporter Damian Cristodero's report in March, Ranger had been working as an assistant coach under former OHL Commissioner David Branch for the bantam Whitby Wildcats and had not made a decision on his hockey future:
Before the start of Lightning training camp last season, general manager Steve Yzerman said Ranger was “sorting out what he wants to do with his hockey career and with his life. At this time he’s not prepared to commit to coming back to the NHL, and I respect his position.
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