Upon arriving at the Toronto Maple Leafs, general manager Brad Treliving assured that he would not attempt to separate the core on offense. However, two of its members will soon gain autonomy.
The Leafs’ payroll is a real headache. Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander alone together make up almost half of the money available to the entire group. However, the results of the playoffs are still pending.
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However, everyone in Toronto believes that this quartet represents the organization’s present and future. That Treliving has adopted this philosophy is a motivation for the players.
“We talked a lot about how Brad came in and stood up for all of us and our team,” Marner said Thursday night, according to Sportsnet. It was important to us that he did that. It’s not just four guys. It’s a team effort every night.”
So it was important to maintain continuity. The offseason also saw the addition of new players like Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, John Klingberg and Ryan Reaves.
“You need a tight team and everyone has to like each other,” Marner said. I believe that our team members have very personal relationships with each other. We organize many events with our partners. We want to feel like family.”
long process
As the Leafs captain and second most experienced forward, Tavares knows the pressure is on his shoulders and those of his teammates. The former New York Islanders wants to win and believes he can do it with this group.
However, by the end of the next campaign, Matthews and Nylander will be free as air. It appears that preliminary talks have been started, but with the little margin left, big chunks could abandon ship.
“There’s the business part of it. Sometimes this process has to take a while and takes time, Tavares said of the contract negotiations. These are not things that can be done easily and quickly after a single day of negotiations. It’s a process. I learned it, whether it was when I was renewing my contract on Long Island or when I became a free agent.
“It’s not always the smoothest process. But at the same time the guys want to be here and they love being here and they want to continue with our group. I hope everything gets sorted out.”
The Leafs are currently nearly $9 million over the salary cap. Even if Jake Muzzin stayed on the long-term injured list, Toronto would still be $3 million overboard.
In short, for Treliving we hope that he has a map to find himself in this maze.