Stamkos stays in Tampa [8 years, $8.5mil AAV]

[KW Sluggo]

Out of his suggested suitors TB has the best shot at the cup maybe he just want to win.

Fair enough but...

Please tell me how the hell that is any different today than it has been for the last 6 months?

The fact is that it isn't any different, other than the fact that the Leafs are one Goalie and Auston Matthews better (not worse) than they were 6 months ago.

Tampa surely isn't any different now than it was then.

This is nothing less than an adolescent free agent masturbatory exercise on Stamkos' part. The "Oh his heart was still in Tampa" is hockey reporting BS and obfuscation. He wanted the fantasy version of free agency, turning off the video before the money shot.

He wasted everyone's time for nothing just so he could play Dorothy.

Well this ain't the Land of Oz and you're not in Kansas any more Dorothy.

Get the boy a pair of ruby skates.

 

[Kin]

Please tell me how the hell that is any different today than it has been for the last 6 months?

The fact is that it isn't any different, other than the fact that the Leafs are one Goalie and Auston Matthews better (not worse) than they were 6 months ago.

But, as people have mentioned, that very well could have led to a situation where between Kadri and Matthews the Leafs felt they had their top 2 centers in place. So they could have pitched Stamkos on coming in and playing the wing, something he wasn't too keen on, or the cap projection is different than it was so they didn't feel 10+ million made sense considering all the extensions they'll have to sign in a couple years and didn't offer him much more than Tampa.

Either way, you can't fault a guy for getting all the information he can before making a decision.

 

[Zee]

There really has to be something else to the story. Why wouldn't he have signed this a year ago?

Maybe his UFA offers weren't what he thought they might be?

Or maybe he just wanted to take as much time as possible and explore all options before making a life-altering decision?

It's another good reminder that Toronto means nothing to players in the NHL.  We don't wait for UFAs, we need to develop our own stars because they never leave to come here.

Don't think you can generalize here. The dream of Toronto meant nothing for Stamkos but it means something for other players. Clarkson for example.

I know, I know.

 

[Kin]

Don't think you can generalize here. The dream of Toronto meant nothing for Stamkos but it means something for other players. Clarkson for example.

I know, I know.

I think what you can say generally is sort of what Babcock was on about when he got hired. Playing in Toronto might very well mean something to some players but realistically it's never going to be enough on its own to draw noteworthy free agents. It has to be a total package, including money and competitiveness.

Keep in mind that even Clarkson only signed after the Leafs made the playoffs.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I think that the most logical explanation for Stamkos not taking Tampa's offer when it was originally made was that he wasn't crazy about the terms of it. He thought that as we got closer to July 1st and more and more teams became interested Yzerman would blink and raise his offer. But that was a game of chicken that Stamkos clearly lost.

 

[L K]

Don't think you can generalize here. The dream of Toronto meant nothing for Stamkos but it means something for other players. Clarkson for example.

I know, I know.

I think what you can say generally is sort of what Babcock was on about when he got hired. Playing in Toronto might very well mean something to some players but realistically it's never going to be enough on its own to draw noteworthy free agents. It has to be a total package, including money and competitiveness.

Keep in mind that even Clarkson only signed after the Leafs made the playoffs.

He was also grossly overpaid to come here.  It's not like the Leafs got Clarkson to sign for like 3M, they overpaid him and just happened to be a more palatable market than Edmonton.  That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Toronto's ability to draw players in.  The only people who seem to want to come here are mediocre grunts and reclamation projects.  Winning will hopefully change that but even in the Quinn era it wasn't like the Leafs were the #1 destination for free agents.

 

[Bill_Berg]

163 pages, here we come.

 

[KW Sluggo]

Please tell me how the hell that is any different today than it has been for the last 6 months?

The fact is that it isn't any different, other than the fact that the Leafs are one Goalie and Auston Matthews better (not worse) than they were 6 months ago.

But, as people have mentioned, that very well could have led to a situation where between Kadri and Matthews the Leafs felt they had their top 2 centers in place. So they could have pitched Stamkos on coming in and playing the wing, something he wasn't too keen on, or the cap projection is different than it was so they didn't feel 10+ million made sense considering all the extensions they'll have to sign in a couple years and didn't offer him much more than Tampa.

Either way, you can't fault a guy for getting all the information he can before making a decision.

I have no basis to believe that the Leafs offered Stamkos the wing --- knowing full well he wanted only centre -- and I similarly have no reason to think that Leaf management is that stupid.

Now as for Kadri and Matthews as Leafs' top two centres as opposed to Stamkos and Matthews (in any order, by the way) I believe the answer is axiomatic and it does not include Kadri.

 

[Bill_Berg]

Why is it stupid to ask Stamkos to play on the wing? Isn't that where he's playing in Tampa?

 

[Kin]

He was also grossly overpaid to come here.  It's not like the Leafs got Clarkson to sign for like 3M, they overpaid him and just happened to be a more palatable market than Edmonton.  That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Toronto's ability to draw players in.  The only people who seem to want to come here are mediocre grunts and reclamation projects.  Winning will hopefully change that but even in the Quinn era it wasn't like the Leafs were the #1 destination for free agents.

They did ok under Quinn. Keep in mind big name UFA's didn't move around much. Within a 7 or 8 year span they convinced Gretzky, Cujo, AlMo and Roberts to come here.

 

[Kin]

I have no basis to believe that the Leafs offered Stamkos the wing --- knowing full well he wanted only centre -- and I similarly have no reason to think that Leaf management is that stupid.

If you think Stamkos is ultimately better suited to playing on the wing, which might have been Babcock's POV regardless of Matthews, there's nothing stupid about asking him how he felt about that.

 

[KW Sluggo]

Stamkos is like a ride at Disney World (it must be something about Florida).

People waited 5 hours for Disney World ride only have the ride break down when they reached the head of the line.

http://nypost.com/2016/06/29/people-wait-in-5-hour-line-to-ride-disneys-5-minute-frozen-ride/

 

[Kin]

Either way, you can't fault a guy for getting all the information he can before making a decision.

In retrospect this really should have read "Either way, a reasonably person couldn't fault a guy for getting all the information he can before making a decision."

 

[bustaheims]

I think that the most logical explanation for Stamkos not taking Tampa's offer when it was originally made was that he wasn't crazy about the terms of it. He thought that as we got closer to July 1st and more and more teams became interested Yzerman would blink and raise his offer. But that was a game of chicken that Stamkos clearly lost.

Yeah. I think that played a big part in things, too. I don't think he was ever all that interested in leaving Tampa. The media fed us a narrative about him and Cooper, and it got turned into a much more significant issue than it ever likely was. At the end of the day, he was hoping for the best financial return with the least amount of disturbance to the life he's built over the last 8 years - and, I suppose, that's what he got.

 

[maplesyrup]

I'm already over it. I like where we're at... I'd like to beef up the D for this season but apart from that, a  little tinker here and there and let's go!

 

[Joe S.]

Out of his suggested suitors TB has the best shot at the cup maybe he just want to win.

Fair enough but...

Please tell me how the hell that is any different today than it has been for the last 6 months?

The fact is that it isn't any different, other than the fact that the Leafs are one Goalie and Auston Matthews better (not worse) than they were 6 months ago.

Tampa surely isn't any different now than it was then.

This is nothing less than an adolescent free agent masturbatory exercise on Stamkos' part. The "Oh his heart was still in Tampa" is hockey reporting BS and obfuscation. He wanted the fantasy version of free agency, turning off the video before the money shot.

He wasted everyone's time for nothing just so he could play Dorothy.

Well this ain't the Land of Oz and you're not in Kansas any more Dorothy.

Get the boy a pair of ruby skates.

He didn't waste anyone's time.

 

[ZBBM]

"The craziest 23 minutes in NHL history"

http://www.tsn.ca/the-craziest-23-minutes-in-nhl-history-1.518095

Holy Mount Hyperbole.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

"The craziest 23 minutes in NHL history"

http://www.tsn.ca/the-craziest-23-minutes-in-nhl-history-1.518095

Holy Mount Hyperbole.

To be honest, I've been following hockey for decades and I can't recall anything like it, so much unexpected in such a short period of time.  Even Bob McKenzie more or less said the same on the radio today.

 

[disco]

It's my understanding Tampa was able to give him an extra year, and 8.5 million tax-free American would have to be around 10.25 million for a Canadian team paying him in taxable US dollars. I think the Leafs probably made a sensible offer of 8-9 (not 10-13 million) x 7, Stammer kicked some tires and then went back to Tampa.

 

[ZBBM]

"The craziest 23 minutes in NHL history"

http://www.tsn.ca/the-craziest-23-minutes-in-nhl-history-1.518095

Holy Mount Hyperbole.

To be honest, I've been following hockey for decades and I can't recall anything like it, so much unexpected in such a short period of time.  Even Bob McKenzie more or less said the same on the radio today.

I mean, it was unusual but in all league history?  I would rank Mosienko higher than that, right off the top of my head.