The Toronto Maple Leafs have re-signed Jake McCabe at $4.51 AAV for the next five years and I'm very confused.
The price for McCabe isn't the issue right now, it's the timing. Why in the world do the Toronto Maple Leafs think they need to lock McCabe up to a long-term contract right now? Why do they always insisit that they have to get things done during the regular season instead of seeing how things play out?
As it stands, the Leafs now have four defenseman over 30-years-old locked up for the next four years. Morgan Rielly (301 years old in March), Jake McCabe (31 years old), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (33 years old) and Chris Tanev (34 years old) will all be under contract until 2028. They will all be 32 or older during next season, when the new McCabe deal kicks in.
Do the Leafs think they have the best top-four in the NHL that they needed to lock all of these players up for the next four years? For $20M between the four of them, I guess this is a solid deal, but how many years will this last that all four will work out?
I would personally be less shocked if the Leafs bought out three of the four contracts versus all four of them still being with the team and playing at a high-level in four years.
Jake McCabe contract is way too expensive and way too long
Sorry to be the one to hate this deal, but I just don't understand why this team is so dedicated towards the players they currently have, especially from a defensive standpoint. The team is fine defensively this year, but they're still averaging 3.11 goals per game, even while getting some of the best goaltending in the league.
I just don't understand the reasoning of giving this player a long-term deal at this point. Am I the only one who thinks Timothy Liljegren is underserved and his $3M over the next three years would be better suited than $4.51M AAV on a 31-year-old defenseman?
The contracts that the Leafs have signed are those type of deals that happened in the old NHL. In the old NHL, players would get their money at the end of their playing career and were esssentially paid for the work they previous have done.
In today's NHL you're supposed to sign a big-money, longer term deal in your 20's, not in your 30's. However, the Leafs have decided to invest long-term in players who will more than likely be much worse when their contract expires, versus being better.
I don't hate McCabe and actually think he's a fine player, but I just don't love the term. It's way too long for a player who will never be better than a No. 3 defenseman, and the Leafs should be using the John Tavares money that comes off the books next year to find a legitimate No. 1 defenseman.
This team still doesn't have a work-house No. 1 guy who can play 30 minutes and until that happens, they won't win a championship. Congrats on McCabe for securing the bag, but this is another silly move from Leafs management.