Tip of the Tower
Fansided

Toronto Maple Leafs: Questions Left to Be Answered in 2016

By David Morassutti

Jan 2, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock talks to Toronto Maple Leafs forward Brad Boyes (28) on the bench during a game against St. Louis Blues at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated St. Louis 4-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock talks to Toronto Maple Leafs forward Brad Boyes (28) on the bench during a game against St. Louis Blues at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated St. Louis 4-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 7
Next
Toronto Maple Leafs
Dec 19, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) shoots the puck against the Los Angeles Kings at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Kings 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Morgan Rielly’s Contract Situation

There should be no reason why a contract extension for Rielly should be difficult to get done. However, contract extensions for young players have been unpredictable the past couple of seasons. Some would get bridge deals and others would get long-term extensions.

The strategy for many young players and agents is to find comparable contracts in order to maximize on their first deals. Some teams preferred to give their young players a two-year bridge deal that way they have more time to properly determine the young players value and in a way most young players capitalize and get bigger contract extensions. P.K. Subban settled for a bridge deal even though the Montreal Canadiens could have locked him up to a long-term deal for less money than what they are paying him now. Could this happen with the Leafs and Rielly?

Rielly will be turning 22 this year and Leafs fans have already seen the potential that he has and hopefully there is more that he provide as he gets older. Here are a list of defencemen and what deals they signed out of their entry level contracts.

"Long term deals Erik Karlsson: 7 years, $45.5 million Drew Doughty: 8 years, $56 million Alex Pietrangelo: 7 years, $45.5 million Dougie Hamilton: 6 years, $34.5 million Jared Spurgeon: 4 years, $20.75 million Oscar Klefbom: 7 years, $29.169 million Cam Fowler: 5 years, $20 million Justin Faulk: 6 years, $29 million Victor Hedman: 5 years, $20 million Oliver Ekman-Larsson: 6 years, $33 million Adam Larsson: 6 years, $25 million John Klingberg: 7 years, $29.75 million Bridge deals Erik Gudbranson: 2 years, $5 million Tyson Barrie: 2 years, $5.2 million Sami Vatanen: 2 years, $2.525 million"

Judging by the trend with young defencemen it looks like Rielly and his agent could push for a long-term deal and hopefully the Leafs can try to pay him at a reasonable cap hit. Unless Rielly is willing to take a bridge deal and hope that he can get paid more when the Leafs lose some bad contracts off their salary cap.

What will you be looking forward to in 2016? Are you feeling more confident about the team’s future or are you still concerned for what lies ahead for this team?

Home/Toronto Maple Leafs