Sign PIetarngelo instead? He was a UFA, he could sign anywhere.

obviously, but with more cap space the Leafs could've been an option

Had the Leafs not signed Brodie they could have been an option (and likely were). Would have taken one trade (Kerfoot) to free up the space needed to make it happen. Pietroangelo preferred Vegas.

He signed 8.8 in a place with a low tax hit. It would have taken a much bigger number in Toronto. Now keep in mind you already knocked off about 6 million elsewhere and you still don't have enough cap to have made it work. The Leafs were never an option.

Are you suggesting that Matthews is overpaid? What would you pay McDavid?
Only problem with the Matthews contract was the length.

at the time it was an overpayment imo, it was kinda like the Draisaitl contract. Obviously it didn't turn out to be as good but they lived up to it