I like it. I think you can make a Carlson contract like that work long term. The only thing is, Washington will match that and possibly tack on an 8th year. Might have to go to 7.5 to get him. Is he worth it? I don't know.

But the team need is there for a top pairing RHD. I just wonder with these American born players; when they hit UFA, do they really want to move their family to Canada?

Willie deal I am not a fan of and here's why: that takes him right to UFA. Will be 22 when he signs that 5 year deal. If he scores 60-70 points consistently or becomes a C scoring near that, he might be priced out of Toronto's future. I'd like to go max term on him even if buying UFA years makes it 6.25 or something similar to Pastrnak's deal.

Also I think Thornton plays with Marleau if we sign him.
Thornton has a real shot at coming to Toronto on a 1 year deal since we have his buddy Marleau and he wants a shot at the cup. As long as his knee heals well, would be a great fit as the 3rd line C.

Try this lineup you would have no room to sign Marner, Matthews and others as the full 2018/19 bonuses would have to carried over to 2019/21. That's a bad term contract for Nylander. Either you bridge him so you might be able to sign him long term later or you sign to 7 or 8 which blows him well past his first UFAs.

You guys are right about WIllie - I probably undersold him a bit. After looking more closely at his direct comparables it looks like he'd fit somewhere in the Forsberg/Ehlers/Huberdeau range. So realistically, looking at his current production & factoring in his potential ability to play center... I think tex is pretty spot on: best case scenario is looking like 7yrs @ $6.0M-$6.25M per.


POS - Player Name (Signing Age - Contract Year Production - New Contract)

RW - W. Nylander (22yrs -- 20G, 41A = 61PTS -- ?yrs / $?.?M)

LW - J. Gaudreau (23yrs -- 30G, 48A = 78PTS -- 6yrs / $6.75M)
RW - D. Pastrnak (21yrs -- 34G, 36A = 70PTS -- 6yrs / $6.66M)
LW - F. Forsberg (21yrs --33G, 31A = 64PTS -- 6yrs / $6.0M)
LW - N. Ehlers (21yrs -- 25G, 39A = 64PTS -- 7yrs / $6.0M)
LW - J. Huberdeau (23yrs -- 20G, 39A = 59PTS -- 6yrs / $5.9M)
LW - J. Drouin (22yrs -- 21G. 32A = 53PTS -- 6yrs / $5.5M)