Move over Kris Russell, the Leafs have another not-very-good player in their sights. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Leafs are one of the remaining teams still in the mix to land unrestricted free agent forward Matt Martin.
Also this from Helene St. James:
#RedWings out on Matt Martin. Had offered front-loaded four-year deal.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) July 1, 2016
To say the least, this is really troubling. If the Wings are out on an offer of four years to a player who by all accounts is a fourth-liner, and the Leafs are still in the mix, you’d have to think the Leafs are offering at least as much term, and likely more dollars.
It’s been a puzzling few hours from the perspective of a Leafs fan, wherein the analytics-heavy Leafs have geared their attention towards the possibility of handing out potentially awful contracts to players that satisfy depth roles at best.
It’ll be interesting to see who lands the likes of Russell and Martin, and what sort of contracts they get. By the sounds of it, the Leafs would be better off standing aside.
UPDATE:
Oilers paid Lucic 42m for McDavid protection. @MapleLeafs willing to pay Martin 4 yrs 12m for Matthews protection? #SigningSeason
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) July 1, 2016
Don’t do it Toronto. You’ll regret it.
Got him for 4 years 10 million. One if the few reasonable contacts on the day.
He may not be an analytics warrior but maybe he can be a reasonable third or fourth liner who can be the muscle if people get out of line with all our skilled young talent in the lineup. I like the move
We got him!
The magic summer continues.
I like this deal.. He’ll ride shotgun with Matthews..
You are right Allan. People forget injuring young guys who hit the NHL early, is a career highlight for some players.
I admit I’ll feel very let down if they go this route with either Martin or Russell. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with the draft, but I’m worried here. I don’t understand giving anyone like these two term right now.
NO PLEASE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO ON ON ON ON ONONONONO SOMEONE KNCOK OUT LOU LAMORIELLO BEFORE HE SIGNS RUSSELL AND MARTIN. HE’S CLEARLY SENILE!!!!