Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
His cap hit the rest of the term went down because he held out. That doesn't make it harder to move, it makes it easier.
Or am I not getting what you're saying?
|
If I'm recalling correctly I believe the concern was that Nylander would basically be moved right away if he had signed a favourable deal.
While his AAV over the contract was lowered, he also signed for less rumoured years than he was after and the first year AAV and the second year bonus structure made his contract virtually untradeable. Not because he's an unattractive player to have on your roster, but paying out big signing bonus dollars is unattractive.
He didn't get everything he wanted, but the leafs only bought a year of UFA, he has an NTC in that final year and is essentially guaranteed to stay in Toronto for at least the first 2 years of the deal. His signing bonus structure lockout protects him and he'll be up to sign a big money deal a year after the new CBA landscape.
With Marner a lot more likely to be traded today than he was a year ago, I think Nylander's negotiations really paid off for the player. He could be the man in Toronto and his cap-to-performance ratio mixed with the leafs paying out big money early might mean keeping him in Toronto for the length of his deal, and his final year NTC means if he is traded the year before going UFA, he has reasonable control over the situation he lands in setting himself up for a big payday.
Pretty savvy I think.