Two of hockey's biggest stars actually eyeing UFA deals in Toronto?
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Photo credit: Edmonton Sun
Anyone who was watching would tell you that Connor McDavid put on a show this past weekend during All-Star weekend. Being from Toronto, it was extra special for him to be able to do it in front of his family and friends and throughout the weekend, he reminiced about coming to Scotiabank Arena as a kid to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only that, but he touched on how special Toronto is to him and what it means to be able to be involved in the event in his hometown.
Some of his comments sparked an interesting talk on Leafs Morning Take this morning from former Leaf Jay Rosehill. Rosehill believes that there is a possibility that McDavid, along with his teammate Leon Draisatl, could make their way to Toronto when they become free agents.
"If you crunch the numbers, crunch the cap, crunch the contracts that are coming up. If those guys wanted to, they could come to Toronto and it would work. It could and would work.... There's ways to clear up our big contracts, the cap going up. I could see it happening, but it's all based on do they want to do that. Is Connor going to leave Edmonton? Is he happy there? Does he have a reason to stay there? I feel like if he doesn't win in the next two years, he's there for 10 years and then he looks back and goes, 'do I stay here? I've given them everything I can give them.'...I know Oilers fans don't want to hear about it, but I think they're worried about it."
As Rosehill mentioned, there are a lot of moving parts to make things work and a lot of it depends on the Oilers success the next two seasons while McDavid is under contract. It also depends on how the Leafs handle the expiring deals of Mitch Marner and John Tavares and how much cap space the Leafs will have. McDavid has two seasons left on his current deal that will pay him $12.5M per season and being the best player in the game, he will surely want to be the highest paid player on his new deal. Draisatl has one more season on his current contract that pays him just $8.5M and his next contract will start with no less than a 12 and quite possibly a 13.
It would be incredible to see the Leafs have McDavid and Auston Matthews as their top two centers, but it is a dream scenario that likely won't happen. The Leafs have already shown you cannot win with three, soon to be four players making more than $10M per season even with the rising cap. There just isn't enough money to go around after to fill out the rest of the roster with quality, depth players. Regardless, it could be something to keep an eye on over the next couple of off-seasons, especially once we have some clarity on the contract extensions or lack there of for Tavares, Marner and Draisatl. McDavid would still have one additional year on his existing contract.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 5 | 950 ANSWERS Two of hockey's biggest stars actually eyeing UFA deals in Toronto? Do you think McDavid would sign in Toronto? | ||
| Yes, he's a hometown kid | 408 | 42.9 % |
| No, the Leafs can't afford him | 542 | 57.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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