The Toronto Maple Leafs Don't Give A Shit About The Salary Cap, Sign William Nylander To An 8-Year, $92M Contract Extension
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The salary cap was first introduced to the NHL after the '05 lockout. So we're coming up on 20 years of the salary cap being a part of hockey, and some teams have managed to figure it out a little better than others. You have teams such as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights who have mastered the cap and found multiple ways to manipulate it in ways to propel them to Stanley Cup Championships.
And then you have the Toronto Maple Leafs. A team that seemingly has no interest in ever learning how the damn thing works. They just want to spend their dicks off year after year.
A 7-year, $11M AAV to Tavares in 2018-19. A 6-year, $10.893M AAV to Marner in 2019-20. Auston Matthews' contract jumps up to $13.25M AAV next season. And now William Nylander just played himself into a new 8-year, $11.5M AAV deal that kicks in next year as well.
Now truth be told, it won't be all too different for the Maple Leafs next year as it already is this year. The salary cap is projected to jump up a little over $4 million for next season, so that's pretty much where Nylander's extension is coming from. But having half of your salary tied up among 4 forwards when your team has been a nightmare defensively and in net for the past 10 years is a masterclass in dumbassery. Sure, there is money coming off the books next year with guys like Bertuzzi, Domi, and TJ Brodie hitting free agency this summer (Bertuzzi to the Flyers, please and thank you). But not enough to spread between defense, goaltending, and depth. Which are kinda 3 big things you need if you want to win a Stanley Cup.
And just to be clear, William Nylander earned the shit out of this contract. He went into this season looking to get paid, and so far he's put up 21 goals and 54 points in 37 games. He's top 10 in points, top 10 in assists, and 11th in goals in the league. He deserves to be an $11+M player. It's just that the Toronto Maple Leafs probably can't afford to be handing out any more 8-figure salaries unless they want to fill the rest of their roster with a bunch of Zamboni drivers.
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At the very least, we all just need to be thankful that the Toronto Maple Leafs exist to keep this league interesting. It's a helluva ride for the 31 other fanbases in this league to all root for this thing to blow up in their face catastrophically.