Lupul signs five-year contract extension

[Kin]

I'd grant that to some extent. But one thing they wouldn't want is to lose Lupul for nothing on the UFA market.

Agreed. That's why I prefaced my original comment with saying that there were really only two choices with regard to Lupul, signing an extension or trading him more or less right now.

 

[ZBBM]

Why would Nonis even think of blowing up the Leafs, or for that matter anyone???  we have alot of parts in place and only need to fill the holes.

From Aesop, as translated into Old English by William Caxton(1415-1492):

He whiche is acustommed to make lesynges / how be it that he saye trouhte / yet men byleue hym not / As reherceth this fable / Of a child whiche somtyme kepte sheep / the whiche cryed ofte withoute cause / sayenge / Allas for goddes loue socoure yow me / For the wulf wylle ete my sheep / And whanne the labourers that cultyued and ered the erthe aboute hym / herd his crye / they came to help hym / the whiche came so many tymes / and fond nothyng / And as they sawe that there were no wulues / they retorned to theyr labourage / And the child dyd so many tymes for to playe hym / It happed on a day that the wulf came / and the child cryed as he was acustommed to doo / And by cause that the labourers supposed / that hit had not ben trouthe / abode stylle at theyr laboure / wherfore the wulf dyd ete the sheep /

Yeah, well Caxton signed a five-year deal in 1489 but never got to finish it out because he went down with Chris Columbus and the rest of the guys on the Santa Maria.  I'm not saying that's directly comparable to Lupul, but Nonis better be aware that there are precedents for this kind of deal not turning out well.

 

[Seymore Pucks]

I hope this points in the direction of signing Kessel shortly too.  Surely those two can get better defensively under Randy C. 

 

[Rebel_1812]

I've never read or heard anything to make me think Nonis was ever going to blow the team up. If anything, I thought it was pretty clear that he was basically set to continue on Burke's path.

Which is fine and all but it means that the same concerns going forward with Burke are likely to still exist, namely finding a way to bring in the sort of high end pieces that the team will be able to build a championship on.

I'd grant that to some extent. But one thing they wouldn't want is to lose Lupul for nothing on the UFA market.

He has a very limited NTC providing a 14 team list.

And with the Leafs, with his injury risk, if he gets hurt, it's just money on the LTIR that won't break MLSE's bank.

To some extent, one could argue Nonis is protecting a talent asset from leaving for nothing like we see a lot of GMs doing and which is why the UFA markets have been so lean the past few years. And as I mentioned above, it might help Nonis to keep Kessel.

With a number of Marlies making the club, there does seem to be an intent by Nonis to take stock of what NHL talent they have and from there, they may adjust their direction according to what they find.

If Burke was in charge, I think there would be a more serious attempt to make the playoffs because his job was on the line. Nonis seems to be willing to sit back a little more and evaluate - similar to what Burke did when he arrived in 2008-09.

Having said that, Nonis does seem closer to a retooling effort than a full rebuild but if they finish near the bottom like many predict, they should land a pretty good player via the draft.

You can't have a roster full of youngsters and expect to win.  You need a few veterans.

 

[cw]

You can't have a roster full of youngsters and expect to win.  You need a few veterans.

You also need some vets to help develop the youngsters.

Compared to his earlier years, I think Lupul has matured quite a bit as a person. I also think he's embraced playing in this city. Those aren't bad things to have the younger players around.

 

[bustaheims]

I meant bought high in the sense that I don't believe he is a point per game player and yet is being signed right after a ppg season.

Sure, but, he's being paid more like a ~25 goal, 50+ point player, which, when healthy, is hopefully around where he'll end up most seasons.

 

[Kin]

Sure, but, he's being paid more like a ~25 goal, 50+ point player, which, when healthy, is hopefully around where he'll end up most seasons.

That's probably true if he keeps getting first line minutes with a guy like Kessel but I do have some legitimate questions about whether that's the long term future for the club. If you present it like a math question where you have to solve for X:

Lupul-X-Kessel = First Line on a Cup Contending team

Then X has to be one hell of a player so that it's a line that's not only talented enough but also versatile enough. I don't know if that's really going to be available to them.

If not, then you may have to make some changes to the front line beyond just bringing in a new center in which case Lupul could be getting first line money without a first line spot available to him.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Sure, but, he's being paid more like a ~25 goal, 50+ point player, which, when healthy, is hopefully around where he'll end up most seasons.

That's probably true if he keeps getting first line minutes with a guy like Kessel but I do have some legitimate questions about whether that's the long term future for the club. If you present it like a math question where you have to solve for X:

Lupul-X-Kessel = First Line on a Cup Contending team

Then X has to be one hell of a player so that it's a line that's not only talented enough but also versatile enough. I don't know if that's really going to be available to them.

If not, then you may have to make some changes to the front line beyond just bringing in a new center in which case Lupul could be getting first line money without a first line spot available to him.

Wow Nik, you succinctly stated what I have been trying to convey in a lot of my extended Armchair GM posts ....basically since 2009. 

I like a lot of the players on the Leafs but I am concerned of the salaries given them compared to what cap hits that championship teams have for their forwards and defensemen in relation to the performance on the ice.

I am glad that Lupul is staying with the Leafs but with that size of yearly cap hit he HAS to play as a 1st line forward now.

 

[Rebel_1812]

Sure, but, he's being paid more like a ~25 goal, 50+ point player, which, when healthy, is hopefully around where he'll end up most seasons.

That's probably true if he keeps getting first line minutes with a guy like Kessel but I do have some legitimate questions about whether that's the long term future for the club. If you present it like a math question where you have to solve for X:

Lupul-X-Kessel = First Line on a Cup Contending team

Then X has to be one hell of a player so that it's a line that's not only talented enough but also versatile enough. I don't know if that's really going to be available to them.

If not, then you may have to make some changes to the front line beyond just bringing in a new center in which case Lupul could be getting first line money without a first line spot available to him.

Wow Nik, you succinctly stated what I have been trying to convey in a lot of my extended Armchair GM posts ....basically since 2009. 

I like a lot of the players on the Leafs but I am concerned of the salaries given them compared to what cap hits that championship teams have for their forwards and defensemen in relation to the performance on the ice.

I am glad that Lupul is staying with the Leafs but with that size of yearly cap hit he HAS to play as a 1st line forward now.

You could say grabbo is being paid like a first line center. 

 

[Tigger]

That's less than I thought he'd get if he was successful this year. There are some intangible pluses that some have mentioned, giving Kessel and perhaps other free agents something to think about, sending a stronger positive Toronto 'vibe' in general.

I'm not 100% positive but I don't think there are that many fa left wingers like him coming down the pike, if any. Maybe Clowe ( though more of a power forward than finesse )

This could work well for him and the team if he stays healthy.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

With the salary cap being reduced soon, is anyone else a little surprised that these re-signings (Zajac/Lupul) are not coming down a little bit from what we would have considered pre-lockout market value.

I mean theoretically if the cap is coming down by 15% shouldn't these contracts look about 15% better?

I guess it's subjective in terms of the AAV the players receive, but it doesn't look any cheaper than before the lockout.

 

[Tigger]

With a successful campaign this year I wouldn't have been surprised if Lupul bumped up around a 6 hit somewhere else, though I agree a little more on Zajac ( that could have been the Devils just holding on to what they've got after Parise in some ways too ). I guess that's a little whydfml pov on my part, still.

Perhaps the long term view of the cap consequences are in play here too, say if the belief is that a return to a 70m cap will happen sooner rather than later.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Perhaps the long term view of the cap consequences are in play here too, say if the belief is that a return to a 70m cap will happen sooner rather than later.

You have to think that's at least 3/4 years away if at all though, no?

 

[Tigger]

Perhaps the long term view of the cap consequences are in play here too, say if the belief is that a return to a 70m cap will happen sooner rather than later.

You have to think that's at least 3/4 years away if at all though, no?

I don't really know but say it's in the 4th year, some of these deals would still seem more, well, deal-ish. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the upper limit blew right past 64.3 in the third year.

Cap growth after the 05 lockout only stalled once ( 08-09 to 09-10 saw a 100k increase ) but it never regressed and it went up 5 mil after the first season under that structure.

 

[Zee]

I'm ok with the Lupul deal.  Surprised he signed for less than Grabovski considering Lupul is our first line guy and Grabs is 2nd.  I guess taking into account his injury history it's a fair enough deal.  Hopefully he can continue to produce like last season.

 

[maplesyrup]

Next 5 years cap (roughly)

64.3 mil., 68, 71, 74, 77. - Just guessing these are the kinds of increases we'll see. I really don't see a problem with the last two years of Lupul's deal - Even if he's on the second line by then.

Edit: and it's not like the contract isn't moveable either.

 

[Champ Kind]

Why would Nonis even think of blowing up the Leafs, or for that matter anyone???  we have alot of parts in place and only need to fill the holes.

From Aesop, as translated into Old English by William Caxton(1415-1492):

He whiche is acustommed to make lesynges / how be it that he saye trouhte / yet men byleue hym not / As reherceth this fable / Of a child whiche somtyme kepte sheep / the whiche cryed ofte withoute cause / sayenge / Allas for goddes loue socoure yow me / For the wulf wylle ete my sheep / And whanne the labourers that cultyued and ered the erthe aboute hym / herd his crye / they came to help hym / the whiche came so many tymes / and fond nothyng / And as they sawe that there were no wulues / they retorned to theyr labourage / And the child dyd so many tymes for to playe hym / It happed on a day that the wulf came / and the child cryed as he was acustommed to doo / And by cause that the labourers supposed / that hit had not ben trouthe / abode stylle at theyr laboure / wherfore the wulf dyd ete the sheep /

Nik, you've outdone yourself with this one.

 

[cw]

I'm ok with the Lupul deal.  Surprised he signed for less than Grabovski considering Lupul is our first line guy and Grabs is 2nd.  I guess taking into account his injury history it's a fair enough deal.  Hopefully he can continue to produce like last season.

Centers tend to get more as they're harder to come by

 

[Zee]

I'm ok with the Lupul deal.  Surprised he signed for less than Grabovski considering Lupul is our first line guy and Grabs is 2nd.  I guess taking into account his injury history it's a fair enough deal.  Hopefully he can continue to produce like last season.

Centers tend to get more as they're harder to come by

True, it'll be interesting to see what number Kessel comes in at if he chooses to stay.  6.3-6.5?  He seems to have a good relationship with Lupul so now that he's signed maybe he's on board to stick around for another 5 years?

 

[Bullfrog]

I hope this points in the direction of signing Kessel shortly too.  Surely those two can get better defensively under Randy C.

I hope it does too. He can't sign an extension until the summer though.