Search results

Well, we never recovered from W Bush / Obama one-two punch, which is how we got to this, so... no. We're done, guys.

Yeah but........ [in "the Aristocrats" voice] The Shanaplan!

In the position of Leafs management, after the 2nd contract negotiation, I would've been very reluctant to trust that Marner's team could be worked with on a win-win in the event things didn't work out. I think it was clear, from that one, that Marner isn't interested in long-term commitments...

I say bring back all the fun depth guys we traded to make room for the Four and to try to graft a winning culture onto these losers.

Reports are Marner's camp hasn't responded to the Leafs' outreach, except maybe to invite them to a Zoom pitch after July 1.

I saw a few others as I skimmed the transaction list on Wikipedia... ARI traded OEL and Conor Garland, CBJ traded Seth Jones, BUF traded Sam Reinhart, BUF traded Jack Eichel, VAN traded Bo Horvat, WPG traded Pierre-Luc Dubois... Yeah, most of those are steps back from Nylander or (especially)...

If there’d been a spring cleaning in any of 2021, 2022, or 2023, I wonder what the Leafs could look like today. How many top-pairing centers or worthwhile 1-2Cs moved over those years? Could any of them been had for either Marner or Nylander?

Good piece and this is a great passage:

I knew! I knew! I said it the day after it was signed! "In almost every other case" doesn't mean much when you're dealing with such an outlier in cap allocation.

He doesn't "have" to unless he wants to play on a Toronto-based NHL team that can contend for a Stanley Cup. If he did, there'd be a deal done by now. There's a May 2024 quote from Marner about "start[ing] thinking about it now and try to figure something out" but no reporting that Ferris was...

Maybe Ferris couldn't find any better takers.

Sure. But once July 1, 2024 rolls around, if your agent isn’t in Treliving’s office to start working out an extension — something team friendly, that shows commitment to the city and returns some of what your underperformance cost the team over your last deal — it’s clear that you aren’t...

For the Leafs to contend, with what they’re being paid under a hard cap, those 4 probably need to be the top 4 in Leafs playoff history, and they definitely need to be a lot better than 15-20 in the league! Their contract values put them in the top 5 or so, right up there with MacKinnon...

But doesn't that make it fairly likely that you lose both? Nylander would be as aggrieved as many here say Marner is--except rightfully so, in this case, as the team's saying we aren't negotiating with you until that guy's under contract, which is after yours expires but, you know, wait around...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Marner only edible to extend on July 1, 2024? Wouldn't that have been when Nylander became a UFA?

I think that's right. By walking it to UFA--which was his and his agent's declared intention going back to at least the start of this season and his agent's way of doing business over enough contracts now this was obvious back in Spring 2023--it meant the only way Mitch was staying (on his...

Fair. Yeah, it's a bold (i.e. not fully investigated) predication... I'm aware that the most contender-y of Marner's suitors might not have other core pieces on market contracts. Certainly, the Leafs have been unique in the league in having 4 players with 8-figure AAVs. Maybe Mitch plus some...

My prediction: not if he signs for $13m. The next team that signs him will be limited in the same way the Leafs have been and will be paying playoff game-breaking money to a player who doesn’t break playoff games.

Marner may have been the only member of the core 4 who had trash thrown on his lawn, but I seriously doubt he was the only one to have a fan yell at him while out walking. It is true, though, that he was the only one about whom a story like that ended up in columns from insiders. Weird!

This beggars belief. Has a Farris client ever signed a contract once they were eligible to extend? I thought all his clients went to free agency to test the market.