Anze Kopitar's new contract a nightmare scenario for the Leafs
On Thursday afternoon, the hockey world had received news that the Los Angeles Kings had reached an accord with captain and #1 center Anze Kopitar on an extension that will pay him $7M per season in 2024-25 and 2025-26. Kopitar is about to enter the 8th and final year of his current contract, which has paid him $10M per season over the last 7 seasons.
Why the report about a member of the Los Angeles Kings, you ask? Well, because of the implications the deal will have on the impending John Tavares negotiations in Toronto. Tavares will become eligible to negotiate his extension next summer.
Tavares signed a 7-year deal with the Leafs as a UFA in the summer of 2018, which pays him $11M per season through 2024-25. Prior to Kopitar's extension in LA, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for the Leafs. That light at the end of the tunnel was that once Tavares completed his current deal, he'd be 34 years old and coming into his 35+ seasons. At that point, the belief was that the Leafs could sign him to a deal that would allow him to finish his career and retire as a Leaf at a more modest cap number. Well, as you can imagine, Kopitar's deal just threw a wrench into that plan.
Kopitar is 35 years old now and his new deal won't kick in until he's 36. Over his last 5 seasons, the 2-time Stanley Cup winner has notched 313 points in 370 games, a .845 points per game average. Tavares, soon to be 33 years of age, has notched 354 points in 360 games over that same span, a .983 points per game average. Why is this relevant? Well, when it comes time to negotiate an extension, the Kopitar deal is an obvious floor in terms of what the Tavares camp will be seeking - especially with the cap rising significantly over the next few years.
As productive as Tavares has been, there's no question that he's worth every penny of what Kopitar will earn on his next deal. The questions now become "how badly does Tavares want to retire a Leaf and how much money is he willing to leave on the table?". We know that Tavares left $2M per season on the table during his last negotiations. The reported contract offer from the San Jose Sharks was $13M per season over 7 years. Tavares took $2M less per season to come home, leaving $14M on the table.
The interesting part of this discussion is going to be the term. Kopitar's deal will only be 2 years long when it kicks in and will take him to his 38-year-old season. Tavares will see his new deal kick in at 35 years old and if he and the Leafs are both interested in lowering the AAV by going a bit longer on the term, perhaps the Leafs can lock Tavares in at a $6M (or slightly lower) cap hit over three years instead of $7M per for two.
There is another option, however, which would simply be to thank Tavares for his time and allow him to ride off into the sunset and play out the rest of his career elsewhere, which would allow them to spend his reallocate his full $11M elsewhere in the lineup. Personally, I think the Leafs as an organization value Tavares too much to let him walk away, but I suppose stranger things have happened.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 7 | 653 ANSWERS Anze Kopitar's new contract a nightmare scenario for the Leafs What should the Leafs do with Tavares when his current contract is up? | ||
| Re-sign him, whatever the cost | 34 | 5.2 % |
| Thank him for his time and let him walk as a UFA | 191 | 29.2 % |
| Low ball him and hope he takes the offer to stay | 351 | 53.8 % |
| Other | 77 | 11.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
