We have 13.7 mil in cap, should be easy enough to get him

Honestly I love him but I don't see Matty staying. He's a Zona boy. I imagine he'll go to Zona or one of the Cali teams - but here's hoping!

Lol, nope. He will stick in Toronto. If he goes anywhere else it's LA or Rangers.

Never seen a fan so amped about the potential for one of the best players in the league to leave their team

I dunno, who wouldn't want to play in a rink that has worse capacity than most OHL rinks?

Exactly, hence why I said "one of the Cali teams". Los Angeles is in California.

Don't think there's a chance he goes to Arizona. Unless they get Bedard and have a crazy turn around. Tavares wouldn't have come to Toronto if they were in Arizonas position. Toronto was on the upswing so it made sense to be apart of that. Arizona is in the middle of a decades long rebuild while playing in a joke stadium. I could be wrong but I think winning a cup means more to matthews than playing for Arizona. Would love to see him in LA though.

I don't think it takes a tremendous amount of comprehension to see where we differ.

Could deffo see him sign in AZ. He'll be what? 27 when his deal is up? Prime of his career and they might be just ending their rebuild. They have so many picks. I think their turn around will come sooner than expected.

Me enlish no so good

Ah yes, notoriously great rebuilding team the coyotes

They could take a thing or two from the Leafs in that department, starting with a massive free agent signing

much better than the habs 'think you're actually a good team because of a fluke run then end up in last place and blow the pick" strategy

You mean when our rebuild ended? Playoff teams aren't rebuilding.

Totally! Thank goodness Bergy is gone now

No but use the style the Leafs used. Tank for a couple of years and collect some talent (34, 16, 88, 44), make a splash in free agency (Marleau, Tavares) and make a deal to bring in a goalie (Andy).

I mean, it worked for Toronto. Sure they haven't won a playoff series since I was 3 but that is bound to change. They've had some fantastic regular seasons and are a blast to watch. There are certainly factions of their plan that Arizona could use. Might take a bit longer but maybe they throw excess amounts of money at Matthews and keep him happy for a year or two of a continued rebuild and then they can rock and roll.

Arizona can't draft or pay players... or rinks... hell not even their practice rinks.

With the high likelihood that Matthews leaves Toronto once his deal is up, I think he takes into 2 things above money. First, would be a team that is a contender at that point, starting to be a contender at that point, or are only about 2 years or less away from being a contender. A team that actually has a shot at the cup, a team like LA for example, would be perfect for this criteria. The second criteria would be the proximity to his hometown in Arizona. So that would leave teams like LA, Anaheim, Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Vegas, Minnesota, and obviously Arizona as the most likely teams he would consider going to. Dallas, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Vegas would fit the “contender now” status from criteria 1 that I mention. LA and Anaheim would be best classified as “starting to be a contender”, with Seattle and Arizona being classified as the “soon to be contender” status. Narrowing it down further, teams like Vegas, Minnesota, and Dallas wouldn’t be able to afford a Matthews splash (this is where Colorado would also end up, they won’t make the same mistake as Toronto, right?). St. Louis could probably afford Matthews, assuming that Tarasenko leaves in UFA, but also ROR as well, so St. Louis would be a potential dark horse.

That leaves LA, Anaheim, Seattle, and Arizona as the most likely choices for Matthews to go to in UFA. And of these teams, I am gonna guess that he lands in Arizona. That being said, this is all hypothetical so who cares. I would keep an eye on the Sabres and Bruins if Matthews decides to stay in the East, though.

umm... think again, it'll be pick one or the other situation, Matthews stays and Nylander leaves or Matthews goes and Leafs scramble to overpay Nylander. Also Knies, Sandin and Robertson RFA contract are unknown variables.

Pretty sure Knies does the same think Abrezzesse did, sign a 3 yr ELC and make sure the first season of that contract gets burned up. So Knies will be a RFA as Matthews leaves and takes a large pay hike.

Matthews is gone, unless Nylander leaves before.

High likelyhood? Lol based on what?