Toronto Maple Leafs: Don’t get worked up about Nathan MacKinnon’s comments

Nathan MacKinnon’s comments about his contract pushed buttons about the Toronto Maple Leafs contracts and people need to stop getting worked up about it.

When things are not going right for the Toronto Maple Leafs, everything seems to revert back to the contract Kyle Dubas signed his star players to over the past year.

The issue was re-opened when Nathan MacKinnon spoke about having no regrets about his contract with Jordan Horrobin of Forbes. It’s not a new issue considering people were saying that MacKinnon’s deal was the best bargain in the NHL when he scored 97 points during the 2017-18 season.

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MacKinnon signed a seven-year deal with a $6.3 million cap hit out of his entry-level deal after putting up 153 points in 218 games but admitted that he had a chance to sign a bridge deal. He admitted that it would have been nice if he was negotiating another deal after scoring 97 points rather than the 52 he had in the final season before his extension.

How does this relate to the Maple Leafs? Well everybody is quick to point out the big contracts the team has that some are calling “anchors” to the team’s chances to win a Stanley Cup and MacKinnon’s comments about “taking less” in order to give Colorado the best chance to win.

"“We have guys that we wouldn’t (otherwise) be able to bring in,” MacKinnon said. “On my next deal, I’ll take less again. Because I want to win with this group.”"

While MacKinnon’s comments are certainly noble and other fanbases have been quick to rub it into the faces of Leafs fans. However, this is something that should not be a concern because that single quote about taking less is only one part of the story.

The Leafs have had tough negotiations with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander and there could have been more give than take considering how much they probably get outside of their deals. However, if you think that only the Leafs had a tough time signing their restricted free agents, MacKinnon admitted that he would have done the same thing and he will probably get a significant raise when he needs a new deal.

"“I think you want to get paid what you’re worth,” MacKinnon explained. “I’d probably do the same thing. If a team isn’t paying you what you think you’re worth, holding out is something (players) are entitled to … I think it’s going to continue that way.”"

Unfortunately, we have come to a point where salaries continue to be the main topic of discussion around a player and it continues to fuel people’s hate over a player on their own team.

We have seen it with Nylander who continues to be the fan’s choice to get traded, then seeing the outrage for Marner’s deal and Matthews starting to get heat for his lack of desire in his play as of late.

There is nothing to change the deals Toronto signed their core forwards to unless Dubas trades any of those players and that might do more harm than good right now. So instead of getting worked up about what players are being paid, worry more about how the team is playing on the ice which is not to the standard the organization expects right now.

What did you think about MacKinnon’s comments? Is it getting annoying to constantly hear about salaries? Let us know in the comments below.