Drew Doughty opened up a can of worms (again) this week when he told Craig Custance of The Athletic that he has been pondering his impending free agency.
Doughty said he believes he should earn more than P.K. Subban; that he and fellow 2019 UFA Erik Karlsson will discuss their approach to the open market, and he opened up about how much he loves Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock.
It is more than obvious that Drew Doughty has come to one realization. He has the biggest bargaining/negotiation chip on his side. The Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now I know the obvious narratives that are out there when it comes to fans around the NHL and how they view the city of Toronto and Leafs Nation when it comes to Toronto kids and impending free agency.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have historically made serious offers to Toronto born players who become available. Don’t believe me? Lets look at the facts.
When Rick Nash was on the trading block and was ultimately traded to the New York Rangers, the Leafs were interested and not only that they did make a serious offer. The package offered for Rick Nash was Jake Gardiner, Joe Colborne, Matt Frattin and a first rounder (SOURCE).
Recently Steven Stamkos hit the open market and the Maple Leafs brass met with him, one of only 2 teams on a long list of teams wanting to talk to him, and made a serious pitch with the CEO of Canadian Tire attending the meeting with a signed and sealed endorsement deal (SOURCE). From what I have read/heard the Toronto Maple Leafs offered Stamkos a contract worth a combined $14 million a year including endorsements.
The Maple Leafs have signed Toronto boy Dominic Moore to a contract during free agency on two separate occasions.
The Maple Leafs chose to draft hometown boy Mitch Marner. It was hotly debated when the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to select Marner over Noah Hanifin.
Connor Brown is also a Toronto Boy, as well as Zach Hyman. Matt Martin is a Windsor boy. Josh Leivo is a Innisfil guy as well.
You can see that the Leafs roster is littered with kids from the area.
This track record started with Brian Burke and Dave Nonis and is now being continued by Brendan Shanahan and Lou Lamoriello.
So this brings us to Drew Doughty. The talk is that the NHL salary cap could go up significantly to about $80-$82 million (SOURCE).
I based the following calculations on a $80 million NHL Salary Cap (Please see below).
Love to hear your thoughts.
thank you for reading.
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Shahriar Balouchi