Rejoint: août 2017
Messages: 2,400
Mentions "j'aime": 866
You will get a lot of flak either way.
I agree with you.
It is extremely difficult to succeed in today’s salary cap NHL with 2 superstars (I.e. large payrolls), let alone the 3 that the Leafs carry (Matthews, Tavares, & Marner).
Chicago & Pittsburgh succeeded quite a few years ago with Toews/Kane, and Crosby/Malkin, but look at them both now.
Both Aging and have a glut of payroll and contracts they have to manage through.
Edmonton is close with McD and Drais, but still having difficulty finding the right mix of veterans and skilled youth around them.
The key is to draft excellent, use the upcoming talent while they are on their ELC, and sign a couple skilled veterans who would take a discount to play for a cup.
In my opinion, the Tavares signing really put the Leafs in a huge cap crunch, and they have missed on quite a few draft picks the last few years.
The Leafs are one heart and soul type guy to pull it all together. Kadri was like that.
The Jackets have 2 of those guys in Foligno & Jenner.
It is more than just talent.
It is the way they play the game.
Intensity. Compete level. Personal sacrifice.
They bring it all to practice, locker room, games, and do whatever is asked to succeed.
Jenner played at center (2C) for several years when asked (when Wennberg wasn’t cutting it there) but his true comfort is LW.
He also topped the team in face off % while doing so.
Foligno led the team several years ago through a couple tough family illnesses.
Also, bad contracts will kill a teams opportunity too.
Look at Tampa.
They won the cup, but are really paying for their bad contracts now.
Hopefully the Covid thing will resolve soon and the (NHL) economy and attendance get back to normal.
That and Seattle expansion will help spread some contracts/payroll out To help teams a bit from cap crunches.