The Toronto Maple Leafs deserve all the criticism they get for the clumsy and stupid way in which they changed general managers this summer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs also deserve criticism for paying big-money to name-brand players who are statistically no different than replacement players, however those contracts are still very low-risk due to not having any term attached to them.
The signings of Max Domi, John Klingberg and Ryan Reaves were terrible and ridiculous because they are expensive bets with almost no chance of paying off.
They deserve to be criticized, but not very much. They aren’t great deals, but they don’t really hurt the team. Overall, the Leafs should be praised for not having a single bad contract on their roster, or at least not one that actually hurts or impedes them.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Still Don’t Have a Bad Contract
The Leafs could have spent their off-season budget in a smarter way, but the fact is that they didn’t give out any term in their contracts, so they are all pretty low-risk.
Domi and Klingberg can be moved if needed.
Even Ryan Reaves, as dumb as giving him three years is, it’s just barely over the league minimum. With Reaves, the Leafs broke the two cardinal rules of avoiding bad contracts: don’t give term to old players, and don’t pay replacement players above the league minimum.
So while technically it’s a bad contract, it doesn’t really hurt them in any way.
Every other contract the Leafs have is fine, except for maybe Matt Murray’s but that was always a risk that was counteracted by the existence of the LTIR.
John Tavares deal is perfectly fine. Last year he scored almost 40 goals and he was a 54% Xgoals player.
He is worth every single penny he gets paid and his contract is money well spent.
Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander are all bargains.
TJ Brodie is entering his last year, and while I don’t think anyone loves Morgan Rielly’s contract, it’s reasonable for what he does. It may not be especially team-friendly, but it’s what you’d pay a very good #2, and he will most likely be a valuable player for the majority of his deal.
Looking at the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Cap Friendly, I don’t see any issues. Most problem contracts in the NHL are too expensive and too long for players that aren’t much better than replacement level.
If Max Domi or John Klingberg had a multi-year deal, it would be very problematic, but they don’t so it isn’t.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been cap magicians for the majority of the Kyle Dubas era, and it’s been a while since they had a truly bad contract. There probably isn’t a better team in hockey for managing the salary cap, which is why in recent years we’ve seen Tampa, Pittsburgh, Colorado and others move towards the Studs and Duds cap strategy that he Leafs have pioneered.