[Signing] Leafs sign Marleau (3 yrs, $6.25 mil AAV)

[landshark]

Beat reporters are saying that 2x$5M was SJs best offer - I'm pleased. That was a good effort, but TOR 'wanted it more'.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by landshark

Wow, I really wanted Marleau to retire a Shark, but I would have KILLED Wilson if he offer that deal. Goodbye Patty!

Oh? How do you feel about the Thornton deal then? Acceptable because it's 1 year?

Also... if SJ had a BAD year (entirely not impossible the way the division is shaping up), Thornton could be a trade deadline acquisition for TOR as the go for the cup.

Pretty sure that ship has sailed. I don't think anyone with playoff aspirations will be able to fit that contract in their team structure, even later at the deadline.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Eh, at 50% retained Thornton could be the single biggest fish available at the deadline.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Oh? How do you feel about the Thornton deal then? Acceptable because it's 1 year?







Pretty sure that ship has sailed. I don't think anyone with playoff aspirations will be able to fit that contract in their team structure, even later at the deadline.

It actually works quite well as a deadline acquisition since it represents only $2.0 m owed on the remainder of the cap, which is calculated on a day-by-day basis.

[Spinach]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Makes the Sharks weaker. Good.

The leafs too. Even better.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

It actually works quite well as a deadline acquisition since it represents only $2.0 m owed on the remainder of the cap, which is calculated on a day-by-day basis.

Perhaps, but $2 million is a lot to fit into the cap and a lot of contenders don't typically have that kind of room.

I don't know enough about LTIR. I know the Leafs have to be cap compliant by the start of the year, but once the season starts they can go over the cap by roughly $10 million? I can never keep the rules straight.

[landshark]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Oh? How do you feel about the Thornton deal then? Acceptable because it's 1 year?

Pretty smart how this news rolled out.

Thornton signs with the sharks - one year deal... YAY!!!
Thornton to be paid in the neighborhood of $6M... YAY!!!
Thornton to be paid in the neighborhood of $6.5M... whatever... YAY!!!

Patrick Marleau is GONE... aw, DAMN! Thank god we still have Joe.

Thornton to be paid in the neighborhood of $8M... wait... wha?? .... yay... I guess...

YES, I wanted the sharks to sign JT. I was hoping for 2x$5M. One at $8M is a little crazy, but there are several things that sharks fans can consider.

- Joe never earned more than $6.75/y
- SJ has vast cap space right now - many things are possible

I would have been thrilled if Wilson could have signed both at 2x$5M, but it's clear that the market is willing to go a lot higher.

Losing BOTH players would have been unacceptable. If only one was willing to accept a decent offer, I'm glad it's Thornton. Pretty sure most SJ fans would agree.

One thing for sure this season - no way can I pretend that SJ is superior to CGY. The dynamic of the division has really shifted... North.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Oh? How do you feel about the Thornton deal then? Acceptable because it's 1 year?



Pretty sure that ship has sailed. I don't think anyone with playoff aspirations will be able to fit that contract in their team structure, even later at the deadline.

I think you're underestimating how large of a contract teams can pick up at the deadline because of how space accrues over the year. At the deadline, every $1 of cap space that you started the year with is worth $4.65. So to take on a $8M AAV contract at the deadline, you only need to have started the year with $1.72M in cap space. If SJ retained half, then you would only need to have started the season with about $0.86M.

There will of course be teams that can't even do that because of injuries or starting the season right up against the cap, but there will still be enough teams at the deadline that can fit him in.

(I got the $1 at start = $4.65 at the deadline number from Capfriendly, if anyone is wondering)

[savemedrzaius]

At first I didn't like this deal. I felt like 2 year at this price would be fair. But obviously the Leafs had to add the extra year to get him.

The more I think about it though if the Leafs can trade JVR for a Top 4 Dman.
And then next year they let Bozak leave and Nylander takes over C...the Leafs should be fine re-signing the big 3. They just might have to trade some of the smaller pieces.

Also this is great because I'm HOPING Babcock takes Hyman off the Matthews line and maybe gives him Marleau to play with. It would be nice to see Matthews play with some vets on a regular basis.

Possible lineup:

Marleau-Matthews-Nylander
Kapanen-Bozak-Marner
Komarov-Kadri-Brown
Martin-Moore-Hyman/Leivo

Gardiner-Zaitsev
4th Dman Traded for JVR- Rielly
Hainsey-Carrick

[CSharp]

I can't wait to see this signing is going to be a huge bust for the Leafs for two years and then a buyout. Bahahaha! Talk about overpayment or what?!?

[-TC-]

Those are big numbers....

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by CSharp

I can't wait to see this signing is going to be a huge bust for the Leafs for two years and then a buyout. Bahahaha! Talk about overpayment or what?!?

It's a 35+ contract so there is no point in buying him out because they would receive no cap hit benefit. Also because of all the bonuses he can't be bought out.

What is more likely is when they signed this 3 year deal they had a little side agreement that Marleau would waive his NTC to a team he approved of for the 3rd season. This way Marleau gets his 18.75 but the Leafs can trade him to a team who needs the cap hit but only has to pay Marleau something like 1.25 million because of all the bonuses.

It's the Leafs using their financial muscle to their advantage.

[bluejays]

With cap space, don't be surprised if Leafs also get Kovalchuk. From there I'd think Kadri would be dealt for that 3rd d-man. Maybe even someone along the lines of Bouwmeester who fits that Leafs mold of a smooth skating player.

[Machiavelli]

Heh, I'm sure Bouwmeester would flourish under that microscope

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

That's the thing... people are saying that a cap floor team would happily take him for the 3rd year, after the bonus is paid. But why on earth would he wave his NMC to go to a basement dweller for $1.something M for his final season?

Better to retire and let the Leafs deal with it.

Because the Leafs gave him a ton of money for 2 years.

While he isn't contractually liable to do so, he'll play ball like many players do, such as Fleury, Sharp, Campbell etc. who happily waived to help their teams.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[landshark]

here’s a crazy stat (stolen from twitter):
Career games played by current SJ Sharks w/ SJ w/out Marleau on ice:

Thornton: 15
Vlasic: 15
Pavelski: 14
everyone else: 0

Like Justin Braun - all of his 448 nhl games played, Marleau was on the ice. EVERY time.

[Bob Loblaw]

Originally Posted by savemedrzaius

It's a 35+ contract so there is no point in buying him out because they would receive no cap hit benefit. Also because of all the bonuses he can't be bought out.

What is more likely is when they signed this 3 year deal they had a little side agreement that Marleau would waive his NTC to a team he approved of for the 3rd season. This way Marleau gets his 18.75 but the Leafs can trade him to a team who needs the cap hit but only has to pay Marleau something like 1.25 million because of all the bonuses.

It's the Leafs using their financial muscle to their advantage.

But why a side agreement? Why not a limited NTC after the second year?

[savemedrzaius]

MOD EDIT : too much.

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by Bob Loblaw

But why a side agreement? Why not a limited NTC after the second year?

I have no idea if this is true just guessing..but the NTC would give him complete control over what team he goes to.

But who knows..maybe the Leafs plan on keeping him for the full 3 years.

[Enoch Root]

But it's a $6M cap hit. And he'll be 40. The only teams interested will be the bottom couple teams that are tanking. He will be asked to play a season for whoever is the current Arizona or Vegas, for $1.25M. He isn't going to want to do that.