Seven small news items, notes and thoughts on a sunny Sunday:
1. More evidence this week that the chances of impact players becoming available in unrestricted free agency will be an infrequent occurrence.
The St. Louis Blues locked up forward Jaden Schwartz for 5 years at a $5.35 Million AAV, the Tampa Bay Lightning extended forward Alex Killorn for 7 years and the Dallas Stars were preemptive in siging former Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Benn to a eight-year, $76 Million contract one full year before reaching free agency.
The trend being followed by most NHL teams is to extend their young players after their entry-level contracts or a bridge deal, making them unavailable to free agency until the age of 30. That fact just makes the current path of the Maple Leafs in drafting and developing their own players even more important, since quick fix options in free agency will not be available anymore.
2. Those disappointed with Steven Stamkos' dalliance with free agency who are hoping that John Tavares may return home should prepare to be disappointed once again. Islanders owner Jonathan Ledecky stated in
a Q & A with season ticket holders last Thursday that the 2009 first overall pick will not reach free agency in the summer of 2018.
Unlike Stamkos, Tavares has been underpaid on his recent contract ($5.5 Million) and will probably look to sign in the same stratosphere as Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The Islanders owners are willing to open up the checkbook to re-sign their franchise cornerstone and can sign him to a new deal next July.
3. The trend with contracts this summer has been deals with a high percentage of salary being paid as signing bonuses. The contracts of Benn, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ladd all pay 50% or more of each year in bonuses. That structure should be familiar to Leafs fans, free agent David Clarkson’s seven-year deal was one of the first to have significant bonuses, since they offer little cap relief if a club decides to buy them out.
Toronto bucked that trend, avoiding signing bonus payouts for half of Morgan Rielly’s six-year-deal and three seasons of goalie Freddie Andersen’s five-year extension.
4. In his Sunday column, the Toronto Sun's
Steve Simmons reports that the story of Toronto offering free agent defenseman Kris Russell a contract was completely false and that they have no interest in the 30-year-old blueliner.
Russell’s agent denied a report on the opening weekend of free agency that his client had turned down a four year, $17 Million offer from the Leafs. It’s tough to turn down something that was never offered.
5. The odds are that the Leafs backup goaltending situation be resolved well in advance of the start of training camp in September and by a trade. Former Leaf Ben Scrivens signing with Dynamo Minsk eliminated one of the few available goalies in free agency. With a collection of extra forwards (including RFA’s Peter Holland and Josh Leivo), dealing for a quality NHL backup like Keith Kincaid or Reto Berra is not outside the realm of possibility.
6. Is it a stretch to think that Toronto fans will be rooting more for Team North America for the upcoming World Cup than they will be for Team Canada? Team Canada has no Leafs, but will be coached by Mike Babcock, while the 23-and-under squad has top pick Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly and Toronto natives Connor McDavid and Max Domi.
No doubt the youngsters would be the crowd favorite at ACC against the Swedes, Russians or Czechs, but what would it be like against Canada?
7. The Blue Jays are in a tight battle for an AL Wild Card spot. Trade rumors have Toronto trading what few prospects they have for pitching or a veteran bat like Carlos Beltran or Jay Bruce and Aaron Sanchez may be moved to the bullpen due to innings limitations.
With Marco Estrada and Jose Bautista are on the DL, Marcus Stroman in the midst of a horrific season and a mediocre bullpen other than Roberto Osuna, doesn’t Toronto have too many holes to fill before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline??
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