Toronto Maple Leafs: The Dangers of Bridge Deals

Bridege Deals have the potential to cost the Toronto Maple Leafs a lot of money.

Within the next calendar year, each of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner are set to receive an eye popping amount of money from the Toronto Maple Leafs. And rightly so.

Unfortunately, as is the case with any restricted free agent contract situation, the topic of a bridge deal inevitably rears its misguided head. The idea of signing a talented young player to a short term, low cost contract sounds like a decent idea, right? Wrong.

If the Leafs intend to possess even a sliver of cap space moving forward, they must avoid offering any of their RFA’s a bridge deal at all costs. Let me explain why.

Licence to Kill

Handing a player a bridge deal is, in essence, handing them the weapon they’ll eventually murder you with.

Bridge deals work wonders in fostering resentment between player and team that will inevitably boil over in the most painful way possible. In prioritizing short term cost cutting over long term trust, these deals alienate the talented young players being offered them. It doesn’t take an MA in psychology to understand how a player could look at a bridge deal as the team betting against them.

Make no mistake, a player who feels alienated by his team possesses about a zero percent chance of accepting a “hometown discount” once they hit UFA status

With that established, let’s take a look at some examples of what could happen if the Leafs indeed choose to offer their “Big Three” bridge deals.

P.K. Subban

The summer of 2012 brought with it the expiration of the entry level contract of Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban. Fresh off a breakout season, Subban had definitively earned the right to request a long term contract. Unfortunately, his team didn’t share that opinion.

Balking at handing their prized defenceman a long term deal, Habs GM Marc Bergevin pinched his pennies so hard he nearly broke a finger. Failing to come to terms on a fair deal, Subban held out of training camp prior to the 2013 season. An abundance of media hand wringing ensued, eventually seeing the two sides coming to terms on a 2 year, $5.75 million bridge deal.

In saving his team money in the short term, Subban now had free reign to ask for the moon on his next contract. Best of all, there was nothing Bergevin could do to stop him.

Subban promptly won the Norris Trophy that next season, scoring nearly a point per game from the blue line. The following season, he kicked it up a notch, putting up 53 points, which was a new career high.

Basking in the prestige of being Norris trophy winning defenseman, the Habs had no choice but to hand Subban a deal worth roughly $9 million per year.

This stings for Les Habitents. Had Bergevin had placed his trust in Subban’s development two years prior, there is no way his price tag would have been so high.

If P.K. Subban is not being paid $9 million a year, he almost certainly would still be a Canadien. Alas, Bergevin stupidly bet against his star player, and paid the price.

Jacob Trouba

What is it with teams jerking around their talented young defensemen?

Jacob Trouba currently sits in a position not unlike Subban’s from five years ago. At just 23 years old, he is a firmly established elite defenceman. Weirdly enough, the Winnipeg Jets have seemingly made their refusal to pay him his true value the hill upon which they will die.

Trouba’s RFA holdout extended into the 2016-17 regular season, eventually forcing him to request a trade. With the Jets losing, it awarded Trouba with some valuable leverage. Eventually, the two sides compromised, inking a 2 year, $6 million bridge deal.

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Make no mistake, the Jacob Trouba contract saga is far from over. When the 2017-18 season comes to an end, Trouba will become a restricted free agent. Since he’s so good, he’ll clearly be worth more than the Jets could have signed him for previously, and if he even wants to sign with them, it’s going to cost way more.

Furthermore, not only will the Jets need to sign Trouba in 2018, but franchise players such as Patrick Laine, Nicolaj Ehlers and Josh Morrissey become RFAs as well. There is no chance the Jets will have the cap space required to re-sign their RFAs. Not to mention paying an even further experienced and established Trouba.

Winnipeg have backed themselves into such a tight corner, that a miracle is required in order for them to escape. As they begin the rapid descent towards the depths of Salary Cap Hell, Jets fans will be seething the whole way down. If only their organization had placed their trust in arguably the best young defencemen in team history. If only.

Avoid at all Costs

Simply because other teams have driven away their young talent with bridge deals, doesn’t mean the Leafs must follow in their footsteps. No amount of cap space will ever make up for losing one of Matthews, Marner or Nylander.

Next: Who is the Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospect?

Please Lou, pay the boys what they’re worth.

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Toronto Maple Leafs: the Dangers of Bridge Deals

By Mike Stephens | Aug 27, 2017