The Official Dave Ayres CC "All Thing Leaves" thread

[Strangelove]

I don't blame you for being unable to grasp this level of hatred Paddy, it doesn't get any deeper.

Knowing the facts helps me destroy Leaf fans when I meet them.

BTW if I post material like the above on Leaves boards it gets deleted immediately and I get warned.

I imagine the media avoids such things for similar reasons?

Leafers are like mushrooms if you know what I mean.

[Strangelove]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/lamo ... -watching/

The contract for a No. 1 overall pick is arguably the easiest for a NHL team to draw up: Start with three years at the maximum allowable salary, including a full signing bonus. Then you toss in maxed out “Schedule A” and “Schedule B” performance bonuses and sign on the dotted line.

There have been 11 first-overall selections since the entry-level system was introduced coming out of the 2004-05 lockout and they’ve all had this contract.

Auston Matthews is the 12th. We await the signing of his first NHL deal.

While there is absolutely no evidence the Toronto Maple leaves are having difficulty with that process, the Matthews situation bears watching because general manager Lou Lamoriello is on record as being opposed to performance bonuses.

In fact, he refused to give them out while running the New Jersey Devils. He even got Adam Larsson, the No. 4 pick in 2011, to accept a contract without them – an extremely rare concession for someone selected so high.

Lamoriello was unusually candid while speaking with the Bergen Record after that deal was signed, applauding Larsson for not insisting on a contract that would reward him for scoring goals or receiving more ice time than his teammates.

“I am not one who is a believer in the rookie bonuses that (are) in the National Hockey League CBA – the A, Bs and Cs as they’re called,” Lamoriello told the Record’s Tom Gulitti. “Yet, everyone in the league that are drafted certainly in the top areas seem to get them. Nobody (with the Devils) has gotten them and our conversations have been that this would not be something that’s advantageous for us to do and the reason is because every player in our locker-room that we have drafted have bought into that philosophy and nobody worries about individual things and only the team and it’s a commitment that’s made.”

Last season, No. 1 pick Connor McDavid maxed out his bonuses as a rookie that produced better than a point per game, meaning he accounted for $3.775 million on the books for the Edmonton Oilers.

When Lou came to the Leaves, the Marner negotiations were already well under way.

Because of that, Lou said, he granted Marner the $850K in potential “Schedule A” bonuses.

However Lou refused to give Marner the $2M in potential “Schedule B” bonuses.

In fact Lou has never given any player “Schedule B” bonuses.

Since 2007 the only players drafted in the top 4 that did not receive any Schedule B bonuses at all

... are Larsson and Marner.

(Larsson didn't get Sched A bonuses either)

(Marner only got Sched A bonuses - $850K - because Lou was brought in halfway through negotiations)

So is Lou gonna change his "philosophy" or are they going to potentially try to rob Matthews of $2M?

And how pissed will Marner be at the organization if he hits Sched B triggers... but no $2M?

Lou is a dinosaur what with this and his "No Facial Hair" + "No High Numbers" ways.

But this is apparently fine:



And apparently this is fine:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck- ... 54405.html

Ever see the movie “Horrible Bosses” and wonder where they came up with all their material? Probably from Lou Lamoriello as noted in a $2.25 million lawsuit filed in U.S. District court by former president of Devils Arena Entertainment, Richard Krezwick.

There’s a lot of legal mumbo jumbo and stuff, but here is the best part, by far, which is buried way low in the NJ.com story about this. Why? I don’t know because it’s incredible:

Several weeks after Krezwick learned he would be let go, several of his senior managers were fired by the Devils, the lawsuit says.

“Lamoriello physically positioned himself in a chair at the base of the employee elevator of the arena so that he could watch these individuals pass by with their boxes of personal belongings in order to leave the building directly after they were fired and to laugh as they passed by, as to take credit for their firing,” the lawsuit adds.

Allegedly, there are reasons Lamoriello was stripped of his GM-ship in NJ... in favour of Ray Shero

... there are reasons NJ-legend Martin Brodeur turned down a front office job in NJ in favour of St. Louis.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

PS. With Leaves going over the Cap using LTIR... it means all bonuses will count as overages the next season.

[Mickey107]

I would wonder what the leaves are paying from the pres all the way down to scouts and everything in between?

Must be double the player's cap..

[Strangelove]

http://www.canuckscorner.com/forums/vie ... 09#p180109

With Reimer/Bernier, who the hell needs Luongo?

http://www.canuckscorner.com/forums/vie ... 39#p180139

Last season:
James Reimer 33 76 2.46 995 .924 4
Jonathan Bernier 14 24 1.88 306 .922 1

And their both only 25 years-old. The leaves are set for years in net with two of the better young goalies in the NHL.

http://www.canuckscorner.com/forums/vie ... 67#p211867

Reimer is a terrific goalie to have as a backup. He has a .914 save % in his career on the leaves. do you have any idea how good that is for your backup?

http://www.canuckscorner.com/forums/vie ... 15#p249515

Not sure why Luongo would have been the smart move. They do not have a top 5 prospect pool with him in nets right now. Bernier has been the tank commander.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

[Cornuck]

Doc's shooting fish in a barrel again...

[Hockey Widow]

Hey Doc, you will be happy to hear that the negotiations with Matthews are now officially "contentious"

Given that the bonus structure is laid out and renurmeration carved in stone it is mind boggling that it has gotten to this stage for a hyped, franchise saving, number one overall draft pick. If he reaches the bonus levels it means he has earned them.

Word out there is he will not concede and will sign another one year deal in the Swiss league if it comes to that. Of course his agent is willing to help facilitate a trade. If I'm not mistaken this is the same agent that helped facilitate the Luongo to Panthers trade. Matthews has no reason to show any loyalty to Toronto, Ontario or Canada. He and his agent seem prepared to strike a blow for rookies on ELC, using any leverage they have at that level. I hope they follow through and make the leaves suck it up or he goes back to the Swiis league.

[2Fingers]

I would applaud long and loud if the did that.

Lou would also be jobless the day after Mathews bolts to the Swiss league.

[Coldsteel79]

But aren't the leaves management group like the best in the league? I mean they're executing the perfect tank/rebuild.

[gobi]

Ahhh...the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship.

Mathews is the number 1 pick. Just give him the maximum bonus and compensation allowed in the cba and be done with it. How difficult can it be? For sure I can see Lou being fired if this situation goes south. It's not everyday that a number 1 pick falls on your lap.

For that matter, why isn't Juolevi signed yet?

[Hockey Widow]

For that matter, why isn't Juolevi signed yet?

Because he, in all likelihood, will play in London next year so the urgency isn't there. But by all accounts a deal will get done before camp.

[Strangelove]

Hey Doc, you will be happy to hear that the negotiations with Matthews are now officially "contentious"

Indeed, brought a smile to my face at the end of a looooong day.

Hey, this is the way Lou the Lam operates!

Often he has gotten away with this kind of behavior

... but often it has come back to bite him in the ass eventually.

Now in this particular situation it's likely Lou's bosses will force the issue (AM gets his bonuses)

... but has the damage already been done?

Like I say, what if Mr Marner triggers what should have been $2M in bonuses... yet receives zilch.

What if Mr Matthews now sets his mind on Leaving that evil organization at some point in the future.

Speaking of yours truly sniffing out stench wafting from the centre of the universe...

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/did-the-lea ... cba~910126

CEO of Canadian Tire attended the leaves meeting with Stamkos + crew… is this cap-circumvention?

Ex-NHL-GM Lawton says this is exactly the kind of 3rd-party cap-circumvention GMs talked about preventing.

If Stamkos ended up signing with the Leaves, the NHL would have done an investigation for sure.

And it’s entirely possible the NHL is investigating this… despite the fact Stamkos didn’t sign with them.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/07/09/di ... lm-stamkos

Did the Maple leaves' lavish sales pitch to Steven Stamkos somehow convince the free agent he wanted no part of Toronto hockey?

According to numerous NHL people who attempted to woo Stamkos, the availability of the star centre all but ended after a Monday night meeting in Toronto that included Maple leaves ownership, front office executives, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Canadian Tire CEO Michael Medline and others from the corporate community. It was apparently an impressive sell with all kind of bells and whistles — just not impressive to Stamkos.

He left the meeting with the leaves, and apparently turned to his advisors and said: “No more meetings.”

“I think they scared him off,” said an NHL executive.

According to another source, Stamkos left the Toronto meeting and told his advisors: “I want to call Steve (Yzerman).”

https://twitter.com/fadoobobcat/status/ ... 4968513536

Do the leaves have a plan to pay Stamkos 3.5M in non-cap dollars per year thru marketing? Told the proposal has been vetted!

Put this all together along with my suggestion that the sudden Cowan situation left the Leaves in a cap-bind…

And one could easily imagine a narrative such as:

Leaves were prepared to offer Stamkos $13M+ times 7 years.

Cowan (completely ignored by cold-hearted Lou) says 2 days before Leaves-Stamkos meet:

“Hey, I haven’t recovered from surgery, therefore I can’t be bought out.”

Lou realizes the most the Leaves can reasonably offer Stammer now is $10M AAV (see post at top of this page).

(which is actually less than $8.5M AAV in Florida due to differing tax-rates)

Lou gathers sponsors from corporate TO community to attend the meeting with wink-nudge promises to Stamkos.

Stamkos’ team is appalled by the sleaziness of it all (not to mention the fear of an NHL investigation).

Mr Stamkos calls Mr Yzerman to accept the $8.5M AAV offer that had been on the table for 6 months.

As an aside, wasn’t Lou Lamoriello once found guilty of cap-circumvention by the NHL?

And is Cowan the only wounded soldier left hanging by the Leaves coughRobidascough Lupul?

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

[Hockey Widow]

One of the reasons we were able to trade for Brendan Morrison was because he wanted out of New Jersey after the treatment he got in trying to negotiate with Lou. It was very contentious at the time if I recall.

I sorta get it. No one player is EVER bigger than the team and no young player should ever upstage a vet. Same guy that has put a limit on rookie press availability. He does not believe younger players should garner more attention than the team. Has MLSE negotiating with Rogers now on player accessibility, well the kids anyway.

No wonder Parise left as soon as he could.

[Knucklehead]

There may be another reason Matthews hasn't signed yet besides the bonus issue.
Consider he is a teenage boy playing in Europe where I hear there are some cute young girls that are not as uptight as North American ones.
I remember when I was 17 or 18 and did most of my thinking with the little head.
Hell I just turned 60 and I still do.

He can make as much money playing in Europe for a couple of years and say screw you Lou no bonuses no signing he has no commitment to TO.

[Island Nucklehead]

There may be another reason Matthews hasn't signed yet besides the bonus issue.
Consider he is a teenage boy playing in Europe where I hear there are some cute young girls that are not as uptight as North American ones.
I remember when I was 17 or 18 and did most of my thinking with the little head.
Hell I just turned 60 and I still do.

He can make as much money playing in Europe for a couple of years and say screw you Lou no bonuses no signing he has no commitment to TO.

Surely to fuck there are hot broads all over North America that would launch themselves into his lap. Hell, why not fly over your favorites for short-term visits? Get real. Hell, high-class smokeshows throw themselves at the guys making $800K (that's a lot of money).

Lou should get over himself. Those bonus-ladden rookie contracts for top-5 picks are pretty much automatic.

[Knucklehead]

Oh no doubt he will have his choice of all the good looking grade a puckbunnies in TO but he probably already has a stable full in Switzerland.
If Lou doesn't give him the max bonuses it would be in his best interest not to sign.
This is not a CHL player getting $150 per week or whatever they get.