Yzermandius19

Time to rebuild Bowman, the longer you wait, the harder the rebuild gets.

I really wish the Hawks would come to their sense and move Kane, so the Avs can take advantage of it. Alas, Stan Bowman is probably not that smart.

Like, if Rantanen signs a 8x10 deal or something, that would be happy dance time. Thanks for being a sucker to help out the team Rantanen, you're a saint. Sakic would get mad props for getting him to bite on that.

Well if neither Dubas or Marner caves and Marner sits past November, they are both idiots. At that point you would have to trade Marner, don't need him to win, but having him would certainly help. I honestly don't think that going to happen though, one or both of them will cave, if Marner signs a long term deal that eats into UFA years though, he's a sucker who got fleeced by Dubas. Either five years or a bridge deal, don't sign away prime UFA years to do the Leafs a really big solid at your own expense. Rantanen is far more likely to cave into a long term deal signing away UFA years, but if he does, he's a sucker, though I'll certainly appreciate his generosity and love of the Avs, if he does, I just won't get mad at him if he wants to get paid and signs a five year deal or a bridge instead, because if I was Rantanen, that's just the smart play.

Matthews is the smartest guy in the room, because he didn't sign away UFA years when salary cap is going to be a lot higher when he hits UFA, and he's going to make a helluva lot more than he would have by signing away three UFA years like McDavid, or signing away 11 years of UFA like Crosby. MacKinnon locked in at $6.3 million for three years of UFA, how did that work out for him? If Marner signs away UFA years, he hates money and loves the Leafs, that's not the smart move though, ask Crosby and MacKinnon if you don't believe me, and in a few years, ask McDavid. Long-term deals that eat into UFA years make no sense when you are as good as Marner is and the cap is going to be much higher in five years when you could be cashing in on UFA in your prime. Stamkos and Kucherov are suckers, especially if Tampa never wins that cup, and they locked themselves in on the cheap and Kucherov could have cashed in on prime UFA years instead, and Stamkos took a team friendly deal in UFA instead. Marner should not be looking to emulate suckers who hate money, he should be looking to emulate the smartest guy in the room, Auston Matthews, even if he takes less just to not sign away UFA years. A bridge deal is a much smarter move than signing a 8x12.5 million contract right now, but getting a five year deal is optimal for Marner, and it's not hard to see why he would prefer that term length to any other deal, it's not a coincidence. It wasn't a coincidence when Matthews picked a five year term either, the reason is, it maximized earning potential. Marner knows the McDavid deal is worse than the Matthews deal, which is why he is turning down the McDavid deal and willing to settle for a cheaper Matthews type deal. It's not a stupid move, it's in his own self interest, it's in the self interest of any big name RFA to not sign away prime UFA years, and expecting Marner to put that aside to do the team a solid because McDavid, Stamkos and Kucherov are suckers, is not fair to Marner.

McDavid signed away 3 years of UFA locked in at $12.5 million, that's three years he going to making a helluva lot less than he otherwise could have, Matthews signed for less, but when UFA rolls around he'll be cashing in with a lot more than $12.5 million for the first three years of UFA. Matthews played it smart, McDavid signed a team friendly deal like a sucker. Doing the team favors at major expense to yourself is being a sucker. McDavid, Crosby and MacKinnon are suckers, Auston Matthews is the smartest guy in the room. Signing away UFA years is for people who hate money.

He shouldn't sit, Toronto shouldn't let him sit. Playing chicken gets you a better contract, it's called negotiation, but not turning away before the crash because you want the other side to turn first is silly. He'll sign the bridge if the Leafs want to go crazy town. Signing away UFA years is not the smart move from his position, if he caves to that, he's a sucker.

Reality is, there is no reason that five years is such a bad term that it's worth letting him sit because you don't want to give him a five year term. Just because they have the leverage to act crazy, doesn't mean they should. If they act crazy Marner will sign a bridge, I don't see him sitting, but a bridge will not lock him in longer than five years, and he's going to be turning UFA when Matthews does anyway, because he wisely is not willing to lock himself in on the cheap during his prime earning years, so you aren't avoiding that outcome with a bridge deal.

He'd take Aho's contract if it was offered too. Slightly more expensive Aho would get the deal done, it's not the dollar figure that's holding things up, it's the term. It's not $12.5 million he's turning down, it's the seven year term he's turning down. He knows when he hits UFA, he's going to be in his prime, and he's going to be making more than $12.5 million, so he doesn't want to lock himself into the final two years of a seven year deal on the cheap, he wants to maximize the biggest contract of his career and not eat into it. Sakic signed an offer sheet, Denver did not feel betrayed, he's still a made guy, as made as it gets. Yet in Toronto, they feel betrayed Marner's even considering the idea of signing one. Toronto fans are a toxic fan base, whipped into hysteria by a toxic media.

Both sides use the toxic Leafs media as their spokespeople, which is why everyone is whipped into a frenzy over standard negotiations because they are pretending the sky is falling because they need something to talk about all Summer. It is not unusual for the contract negotiations to play out like this, but the Leafs media and fans are a bunch of SIFCLF's looking for a scapegoat because Marner didn't sign immediately and Leafs media and fans are impatient as hockey media and fans get. I see no signs that Marner is going to pull a Nylander just because he hasn't signed already, and he wants a five year deal, talk of him being a traitor for not signing immediately and wanting a five year deal at this point in the process is ridiculous, simmer down. Any player who signs a team friendly deal right out the gate is a sucker, not being a sucker doesn't make Marner a traitor. Joe Sakic signed an offer sheet, but yet no one in Denver calls him a traitor, yet Marner is a traitor for simply mulling them over as negotiation leverage, get a grip dude.

Why is a five year contract, blowing it up? Why is a six year contract perfectly fine? Asking for five years isn't blowing it up anymore than Matthews asking for five years is blowing it up, Marner hasn't betrayed them, toxic Leafs media is just spinning sh*t to make Marner look bad. Signing away your prime UFA years is dumb, Matthews knows. He's willing to take a hit to sign for five years in Toronto, and the Leafs are acting like he's out to ruin the team because he won't sign a more team friendly deal with a slightly shorter or longer term immediately. Stop blaming Marner for wanting to get paid and stay a Leaf, team friendly contracts are for suckers, Marner doesnt need to bend over backwards for the Leafs to remain contenders for a long time, so why should he? A five year deal ain't blowing it up. If the Leafs refuse to sign him to a five year deal, because they want one UFA year so damn bad, that's them blowing it up. If the Leafs insist on being crazy though, just take two bridge deals instead, a 3-year, then a 2-year, then cash in on UFA in his prime years. But then the fans would still pretend he betrayed them for not signing for 8x12.5, so there is no use trying to be a made guy in Toronto anymore, the fan base will turn on anyone for not letting the Leafs lock them up on the cheap apparently. Turn down millions, you're a traitor, how ridiculous. How is asking for one year less than Nylander a dealbreaker?

Burakovsky on a one year $3.25 million show me deal though, probably the right move, gotta hedge against him being the same old Burakovsky, even if it means paying a little more should he break out. Locking him up on a cheap long term deal and he doesn't take the next step is bigger risk than him breaking out and having to pay him so much we have to trade him. My thoughts on the Zadorov deal are quite similar to this Burakovsky deal.

Try putting yourself in Marner's shoes for half of a second, and you'll realize, he's not being unreasonable, he's just trying to maximize his earning potential in his prime, and that isn't worth throwing him under the bus about. If you don't want to do that, fine, I can lead a horse to water, but I can't make him drink.

Marner's market price in UFA is going to be higher than $12.5 million, that's called lowballing, Marner is right. Signing away two years of his prime at what will be less than market rate is Lowball City. You aren't looking at things from Marner's perspective, you are only looking at things through the perspective of people who are helped by Marner making less than the market rate during prime UFA years.

Making him take less in his UFA years is lowballing. The Leafs are negotiating in bad faith, the offer sheets are not in his best interest, $12.5 million for two years of UFA, is hurting his ability to earn. Come UFA he'll make a lot more than $12.5 million a year, that's lowball.

Make an example of someone who isn't Marner. Don't make an example of a key piece of the core by f*cking him over for no good reason. Pick better battles, you don't lowball your core, you lowball depth guys, derp.

The Leafs should do that, they don't need to cave now, just before the season starts, maximize the leverage without hurting the team, then they'll cave slightly less than they otherwise would have. Letting it drag through the season is dumb, Marner isn't Nylander, and Nylander didn't cave, the Leafs did, so why would they not cave to Marner when they caved to Nylander? The only answer would be stupidity. You can buy into Marner is being unreasonable all you want, that's bullsh*t, he just wants what he deserves, and if the Leafs offer him a reasonable deal on a five year term, he'll take it. They probably won't even have to pay him Matthews money, they might even be able to pay him less than Tavares, and he'll take a five year deal, that shouldn't be let him rot territory.

The Leafs would match that offer sheet in heartbeat, so what's the point in pulling a Bergevin? There is a market, and if none of the big name RFA's are willing to exploit that, they are shooting themselves in the foot. Aho did it, he took more of a paycut than he should have, but he got his five year term, Marner should do the same, even if he has to sign a lowball offer sheet to do it because the Leafs won't budge, if there are any GMs willing to help the Leafs sign Marner on the cheap that is, not many GM's are as generous as Marc Bergevin.

No one is offering 5 x 11.6, because the Leafs would match it and they don't want to suffer retaliation for nothing and they don't want to massively overpay for five years and give up four first round picks. If they didn't face those constraints and they could poach players with offer sheets without the Leafs being able to match, there would be tons of such offer sheets, it's not an unreasonable ask by Marner at all. Basically you want to weaponize RFA leverage to f*ck over Marner from getting what he deserves, and him not bending over immediately, taking it in the ass and thanking you for it, that somehow makes him the problem.

Just give him five years if he won't do anything else, what's the big deal? If you can get him to sign three or six year deal, then go ahead and play hardball, but five years is not a hill worth dying on, and acting like it is, makes no logical sense, and is a pure emotional reaction to player pursuing his own interests. Other teams don't want to do it right now because of four firsts and a huge overpay to avoid the offer sheet being matched, the Leafs can get him for cheaper and will have to give up a lot less. You are perfectly cool with a six year deal, but if it's five, Marner is dead to you? That makes no sense at all and that's why Marner hasn't budged yet, he knows one less year of term being a dealbreaker for the Leafs is asinine.

So f*ck every RFA who wants to get paid in UFA? That's dumb, that's what every big name RFA should do, the fact that more of them don't do it, doesn't make the ones smart enough to do it assh*les, it makes the one's not smart enough to do it dumb. Matthews played it right, and any big name RFA who can do the same should do it too, the one's who don't are suckers. McDavid made a big mistake, Matthews is the smart one, that doesn't make Matthews a jerk, it makes McDavid a sucker.

Because it makes perfect sense to draw that line in the sand. Signing away UFA years for a big name RFA is fleecing yourself to do the team a huge solid, any big name RFA who does it basically hates money, or they are injury prone and need the security real bad. Marner ain't injury prone, so why do you expect him to hate money? Guys liking the team they are on and taking a discount to stay is hating money, expecting that out of guys or turning on them if they want to get paid, that's just silly.

That's because he won't sign away UFA years, nor should he. MacKinnon made that mistake coming out of his ELC, and got burned hard for it, why is Marner a d*uche for not wanting that to happen to him? What makes six so much more palatable than five, that taking six is "glad to have you aboard" and taking five is "sit til you rot f*gg*t"? Your line in the sand makes no sense, except to stick it to Marner for wanting to make the deal that is in his best interests. No big name RFA should budge, too many guys have signed away UFA years and because of rising salary cap are hugely underpaid now, for any good agent to allow that to happen to their guys. It's career mismanagement to sign away UFA years for big names in today's NHL.

I don't think the deals are fair. I think giving him five years isn't that big of a deal, and the Leafs refusing to budge on it, only makes sense if Marner will cave before the season, and is an epic mistake if he doesn't. If Rantanen will only sign a five year deal, I have no problem giving it to him, I'd like a longer deal optimally, and would prefer a cheaper bridge to signing him right to UFA, but I don't hate the term so much it's a dealbreaker. The Leafs shouldn't either in Marner's case, especially when you're cool with six, how is five so much worse that he needs to be run out of town? That makes no f*cking sense.

I'd blame Dubas for not caving to Marner, and instead caving to the hockey media and a fan base, that chronically pressures the team to run young stars out of town to cling to aging veterans instead. Giving Marner a five-year deal instead of three or six should not be a hill worth dying on.