Toronto Maple Leafs

[blayze]

There's no way Matthews was taking less than Tavares so I think we ended up in a reasonable spot.

Now... will Marner sign for less than $10M?

[FFleming5]

Marner for less than $10M after he puts up 90+ pts (99 pt pace) - my magic 8 ball says “most definitely not, are you dreaming” lol

[MZac]

Marner going into double digits almost certainly. He leads the forwards in TOI, is pacing for 100 points, and has been arguably their best player this season.

[Kofax]

Marner's camp is making a stink about being low-balled. I imagine that they feel between $9-$10 is a low-ball. The argument is that he's as valuable as Matthews, but personally, I think it's tough to really make that argument.

Matthews has a higher Points Per Game, Goals Per Game (more valuable than assists) and plays a premium position at C. If Marner signs a similar 5-year deal, I would put him between $9.5 and $10.5 as a fair deal. Really I think all of these numbers are too high, but that seems to be the climate that has been created. We'll see how it plays out, but this most definitely has not gone according to plan.

[ericdaoust]

[2014olympicgold]

Now the Leafs management has been pretty outgoing on not pushing the Marner camp. When was the last time the Leafs offered Marner a contract? Beginning of the season? Middle of December? 2 days ago? Are the Leafs "low balling" on the money, or contract length?

Marner should get less than Matthews, or Matthews money over 8yrs.

Personally I'd tell my agent, "If we're not talking contract to the Leafs during the season, you aren't talking contract to the media in the middle of the season". Should be a 2-way street in my eyes. But this is personal preference

[FFleming5]

Marner's camp is making a stink about being low-balled. I imagine that they feel between $9-$10 is a low-ball. The argument is that he's as valuable as Matthews, but personally, I think it's tough to really make that argument.

Matthews has a higher Points Per Game, Goals Per Game (more valuable than assists) and plays a premium position at C. If Marner signs a similar 5-year deal, I would put him between $9.5 and $10.5 as a fair deal. Really I think all of these numbers are too high, but that seems to be the climate that has been created. We'll see how it plays out, but this most definitely has not gone according to plan.

I agree with you on your assessment here but also believe the Marner camp is correct that theyÂ’re being low-balled especially at this point in the season with Marner tracking for 100 pts... 100 pt wingers are an extremely rare commodity. Leafs are likely not valuing Marner at that production value because 1. He hasnÂ’t really done it yet; and 2. that total is partially part of his environment. However, he does have scarcity on his side here. My bet is Marner doesnÂ’t sign until after the season.

Next, I think Matthews did sign a team friendly contract here and couldÂ’ve and wouldÂ’ve received a higher offer/offer-sheet. Especially given the ridiculous taxes in Ontario. Lastly, at first glance these numbers seem a little high - but not when you compare them to a percentage of the cap - which is the new agent mentality. I personally donÂ’t think that he signs for anything under 10 - more likely the $11M range. Look at the Hawks Kane and Toews contracts for an example here - when those were signed it wasnÂ’t evident that Toews would cool as much as he has.

[Dennis]

Marner's camp is making a stink about being low-balled. I imagine that they feel between $9-$10 is a low-ball. The argument is that he's as valuable as Matthews, but personally, I think it's tough to really make that argument.

Matthews has a higher Points Per Game, Goals Per Game (more valuable than assists) and plays a premium position at C. If Marner signs a similar 5-year deal, I would put him between $9.5 and $10.5 as a fair deal. Really I think all of these numbers are too high, but that seems to be the climate that has been created. We'll see how it plays out, but this most definitely has not gone according to plan.

Darren Ferris (the agent) was just on TSN 1050 for an interview and clarified that the "low-ball" comments referred to negotiations this past off-season.

A few quotes

"We finished discussions very close"
"All talks were positive and moving in the right direction"
"It's unfortunate that article came out when it did"

[lucafen4]

Marner & his agent aren't negotiating during the season. Dubas hasn't made an offer since camp, and won't make another until after the playoffs

[ericdaoust]

So either the agent was full of shit the first time (and talks actually did go well all along) or he's full of shit the second time trying to do damage control

[tweetdrivr]

I think that’s part of an agent’s job description...be full of shit. Yes

[Kofax]

Darren Ferris (the agent) was just on TSN 1050 for an interview and clarified that the "low-ball" comments referred to negotiations this past off-season.

A few quotes

"We finished discussions very close"
"All talks were positive and moving in the right direction"
"It's unfortunate that article came out when it did"

Ya, Ferris is walking it back HARD now. I heard that interview, and was thinking it's either Feschuk (who wrote the initial article) trying to rile shit up, or the agent made a miscalculation. Feschuk confirmed the comments were from yesterday, after the Matthews deal was announced.

Since then, Ferris has been doing multiple interviews now on radio and with other publications pulling it back. His stance now is that he was actually referring to their initial negotiations in the summer and since then they are actually quite close and he doesn't anticipate any issue finalizing a contract.

Sounds like he tried to make a statement he thought would be helpful and win some sympathy, but it either turned out not to elicit the sympathy he thought, or he was told by Marner or whoever else on that end to stop stupid shit like that.

[2014olympicgold]

Ya, Ferris is walking it back HARD now. I heard that interview, and was thinking it's either Feschuk (who wrote the initial article) trying to rile shit up, or the agent made a miscalculation. Feschuk confirmed the comments were from yesterday, after the Matthews deal was announced.

Since then, Ferris has been doing multiple interviews now on radio and with other publications pulling it back. His stance now is that he was actually referring to their initial negotiations in the summer and since then they are actually quite close and he doesn't anticipate any issue finalizing a contract.

Sounds like he tried to make a statement he thought would be helpful and win some sympathy, but it either turned out not to elicit the sympathy he thought, or he was told by Marner or whoever else on that end to stop stupid shit like that.

I think it's this, Marner's dad shut up after his reports initially. Then Marner's agent was pretty chill after comments earlier in the year, and then Marner's agent piped up after Matthews gets signed.

[lucafen4]

There's no mystery that Marner will get paid and within the expected range.

Where the focus should be is Kapanen, Dermott, Johnsson, Sparks as well as the fact we only really have 4D under contract next year - 5, if we count Holl (but do we?)
I think there's a good chance Kapanen gets an offer sheet.
It wouldn't surprise me if someone offered Dermott a 6x5m deal (Vancouver, are you reading this?!).

Marner will sign quickly... that's going to put the gears to this GM group to lock in these 3 before July 1 as well.
and that's really where the focus of the summer should be.
Like our goalie depth in Sept. we could lose a couple of these kids.
I would be surprised if no offer sheet is given.

[2014olympicgold]

Teams don't win cups based off their top 4 players, they get to the playoffs based off the top 4 players. There's always the need of depth in 2 factors (Forward, Defense, Goalie) to make it deep. Toronto doesn't even have 1 of that depth locked up to be fine with only having 1 locked in going into next yr.

Like said above, Dermott, Kap, AJ, Sparks all need extensions and that's the championship make or breakers.