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One of the main concerns of Toronto Maple Leafs fans is how GM Kyle Dubas is going to be able to pay the “Big Three… cornerstone forwards (William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner) on top of John Tavares and be able to have room to improve the club’s defense to make a legitimate run at a Stanley Cup in the near future.
Recent speculation about Nylander has the Leafs forward potentially making $7 Million or more AAV on the long-term deal that he is looking for, but based on the comparables of those drafted the same year as the restricted free agent, the odds are slim that Dubas would go above and beyond David Pastrnak’s $6.66 Million AAV on a new contract.
The current state appears to be a staring contest with each side waiting for each other to blink. With the outcome likely affecting the club’s negotiations on Matthews and Marner’s new deals, Dubas cannot afford to cave and overspend on Nylander, which either means getting him signed to an amount closer to Nikolaj Ehler’s seven-year, $42 Million contract ($6 Million AAV) or settle for a two-year bridge deal at a lesser amount.
Dreger: "I had an NHL manager tell me earlier today - Western Conference, granted - but he goes, 'I will buy you the best steak dinner there is if Auston Matthews signs for a dollar less than what Connor McDavid is making.'" #Leafs #TMLtalk #Oilers 1050
— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) September 6, 2018
With Matthews, a Western Conference GM said to TSN’s Darren Dreger that the Leafs center should make as much or more than Connor McDavid’s $12.5 Million AAV on a new contract. Obviously other GM’s have a vested interest in the Leafs paying more for their players, since it will give them less money to pursue others down the line.
The only way that Matthews gets in the McDavid neighborhood is if his goal and point totals increase from the first two seasons and the cap goes up significantly as it did this summer. Marner seems to be the least likely to sign an extension before next summer and is betting on himself and a year playing on the right side with Tavares to give him the leverage to make closer to Matthews than Nylander on a new deal, but a Leon Draisaitl-like deal ($8.25 Million AAV) is highly improbable since that contract was an outlier and was paid because the big German slots in as a center behind McDavid.
Another factor outside of the Big Three is other players like Jake Gardiner coming up for a new deal. The 28-year-old becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported on Thursday that Gardiner’s agent Pat Brisson had spoken with Dubas in regards to a new contract a couple times over the summer, but that there was nothing imminent.
The Leafs ability to re-sign Gardiner before next July correlates with their being able to get Nylander, Matthews and Marner signed to team-friendly deals, as less than $5 Million in cap space will open up with the deals of Tyler Ennis, Curtis McElhinney and Ron Hainsey expiring.
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The Leafs will take on the Ottawa Senators in their first game of the NHL Rookie Showdown at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec on Saturday afternoon.
The Leafs roster, comprised of 30 players (17 forwards, 11 defensemen and 2 goalies) will also face prospects from the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon and in a scrimmage not open to the public on Monday.
The @MapleLeafs announced today the club’s 30-man roster that will participate in the 2018 NHL Rookie Showdown at Place Bell in Laval, QC this September. The players will compete in two games against prospect teams from Montreal and Ottawa. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/2xQegQw66w
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) August 30, 2018
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