In Reality the Toronto Maple Leafs “Big Four” Are Underpaid
For the last year, many have been skeptical about the Toronto Maple Leafs overpaying their core-four but I’m here to tell you that they’re actually underpaid.
With four star signings in the last two seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the best top-six forwards in the National Hockey League.
But what about the salary cap, screamed every scared Maple Leafs fan?
Hmm, would you rather have highly-skilled players that will help you win the Stanley Cup and bring excitement to fans every night, or a bunch of mediocre players that may or may not make the playoffs?
Yeah I’ll take highly-skilled all day.
I’m not sure if anyone knows this, but the Leafs aren’t over the salary cap and they never will be. Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Brandon Pridham’s entire job is related around salary cap management and he’ll do everything to keep their core in-tact while staying under the cap. (He was instrumental in writing the NHL’s CBA).
Sure the team didn’t perform to it’s highest standards this year but that had everything to do with injuries, a coaching change and bad goaltending. If the team is healthy, they’re a Stanley Cup contender.
Obviously injuries will occur every year but the Leafs finished 8th overall under Sheldon Keefe despite missing Morgan Rielly for half the games and Jake Muzzin and Rielly for nine of them.
With a depleted defensive-core, the Leafs should have fallen out of playoff contention completely, but they didn’t. You know why? Because of their core-four.
That’s just one of the reasons why their underpaid.
Let’s start this conversation with Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
Auston Matthews
Salary: $11.634 Million
Comparable Salary: Artemi Panarin – $11.642 Million
Matthews is worth every penny and should be getting more. If it wasn’t for Connor McDavid taking a “pay-cut” to stay in Edmonton, Matthews could have argued for at least $12 million per season.
With 47 goals in 70 games this year, Matthews was on his way to 50-plus and had a chance at the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. What makes those goals even more special is that 35 have came 5v5, which leads the entire NHL.
Based off age, skill and potential, Matthews is arguably the best goal-scorer in the entire league.
The NHL is a lot different than the NBA, where players get max contracts all the time, so in a world where Matthews can make up to $15.9 million per season, it’s actually kind of sad that he’s only making $11.634 million.
Locked in until the 2023-24 season, even at a high price, this contract will feel like a bargain when it’s over.
John Tavares
Salary: $11 million
Comparable Salary: Drew Doughty – $11 million
Prior to signing in Toronto, Tavares was making $5.5 million per season as the captain of the New York Islanders.
In that time-frame, he made the NHL All-Star team every year and was nominated for the Hart Trophy once. In his entire career, he’s never once scored less than 20-goals and is averaging 0.94 points per game.
Maybe it’s because of his personality and un-flashy game, but Tavares is one of the most reliable NHL superstars over the past decade and deserves every penny of that contract.
In comparison dollars, many believe that Drew Doughty is no longer an elite defenseman and he has seven years (!) left after this season at $11 million per season.
With five years left, there’s no reason why Tavares won’t score between 25-35 goals and have 75-85 points, whereas Doughty could be out of the league.
Even if Tavares isn’t lifting the Stanley Cup with Toronto, this contract is fine, as you’re paying for great past performance and continuing success which you can relay on from Tavares.
Mitch Marner
Salary: $10.893 million
Comparable Salary: Patrick Kane – $10.5 million
Patrick Kane has three Stanley Cups, a Hart and Art Ross Trophy and is making less than Marner? How is that possible?
Well, it’s pretty simple. To compare the player’s first four seasons, Kane averaged 0.95 points per game with 303 points in 317 games, while Marner is averaging 0.97 points per game with 291 points in 300 games.
Both Kane and Marner play right-wing, played junior hockey with the London Knights and have a similar style. As undersized players, they’re able to use their hands and edge-work to create space and fool defenders every time their on the ice.
With similar narratives, the Toronto Maple Leafs are banking on Marner continuing to beat Kane statistically with hopes that he will help the team win a Stanley Cup for the first time in 53 years.
If Marner is able to continue on his path of averaging a point-per-game, there’s no reason why an Art Ross Trophy or even Conn Smythe Trophy is out of the question in his career.
There’s not too many players more skilled than Marner, and now that he’s paired with Matthews every night, look for those two to outperform every duo in the NHL for the next four years.
William Nylander
Salary: 6.962 million
Comparable Salary: James van Riemsdyk– $7 million
When the Toronto Maple Leafs let JVR walk but re-signed Nylander for less money in the same off-season, people were outraged.
They weren’t upset by seeing JVR sign for more money, they were upset that Nylander was getting paid way too much money.
Let’s play “Would You Rather” for a second? Would you rather have JVR or Ny… Before you could even finish that sentence, the answer is Nylander.
Nylander was on-pace for 37 goals before the season stopped, which would have been higher than any season JVR has had.
It’s easy to criticize Nylander for the hold-out which turned into a disaster 2018-19 season, but if we take that out of consideration, Nylander should be scoring anywhere between 25-35 goals every year while producing 60-80 points.
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Nylander will hit his prime as his contract expires after the 2023-24 season and if he continues to play the way he’s performed this season, a steady 30-goal scorer each year for under $7 million per season will be a steal.