LEAFS BETTER BANK ON RAISE FOR HYMAN
GRINDER COULD CASH IN LIKE CAPS STAR
Never mind Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. When it comes to earmarking money for the future, the Toronto Maple Leafs definitely have to budget for the next big contracts of their young stars. But they also might want to tuck some cash away for when Zach Hyman’s current deal expires in a few years.
Based on the recent contract extension of Washington’s Tom Wilson, the price of a top-line grinder is going through the roof.
Coming off a Stanley Cup win with the Capitals, the 24-year-old winger was rewarded with a six-year contract worth $31 million this summer. That’s more than double what Hyman is earning.
No question, it’s a lot of money and term for a forward who scored 14 goals and had 35 points. But what Wilson lacked in offence on a line with two top-20 scorers in Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov he made up for with 250 hits (fourth most in the NHL).
Some would call it a unique skill set not every player possesses. And according to Wilson, it was as essential to Washington’s post-season success as any of the goals Ovechkin and Kuznetsov scored en route to winning a championship.
“If you asked Kuzy, he’d rather me get him the puck so he can do things with it,” Wilson said at this week’s annual BioSteel Camp, where he presumably is adding even more muscle to his sixfoot-four, 218-pound frame.
“If he’s going to get the puck, then arguably he’s taking two hits and he’s not coming out with as much energy and as much poise. You have to find your balance. Every coach and every GM has his own style, but it seemed to have worked for us last year.”
Indeed, you can’t argue with Washington’s results.
For years, this was a team that dominated in the regular season before wilting in the playoffs. Last season, the Capitals finally got over the hump. And they did it by playing a bump-and-grind style that Toronto and other contenders might want to pay attention to.
The playoffs are ugly. The temperatures rise in the spring and early summer, turning the ice into mud and causing the puck to bounce. Time and space shrinks and the game essentially becomes a 60-minute battle of inches and who wants it more.
Skill and speed are still assets. But so is having a player like Wilson, who scored five goals and had 15 points in 21 playoff games and at the same time caused jumpy defenders to cough up the puck sooner than they wanted to.
We saw it when the Capitals played the Lightning and a wave of bodychecks from Wilson, Ovechkin and everyone else pounded Tampa Bay into submission. And we saw it when the Leafs played the Bruins and players like Matthews and William Nylander became less effective.
“Game 6 against Tampa,” said Wilson, “you look at our team and it was domination. All four lines were extremely hard to play against, all four lines were powerful, all four lines could score. You have to be hard to play against.”
Wilson wasn’t specifically talking about the Leafs, but in the aftermath of signing John Tavares it’s valid to wonder if the Leafs have the necessary grit to match up against Boston or Washington in the playoffs.
Matt Martin, who had been a healthy scratch for all of the playoffs, and Leo Komarov, who was replaced in the lineup with the smaller and speedier Andreas Johansson, are both gone. And while no one can blame the Leafs for valuing skill over intangibles, the lack of toughness could be a disadvantage if Wilson’s comments are correct.
As Wilson said, it’s about balance. He’s not going to match Ovechkin and Kuznetsov in terms of offence. But he’s going to do the dirty work that creates space for both players and allows them to create and be effective. Who, aside from Hyman, is going to do that for the Leafs? Patrick Marleau? Connor Brown?
“That’s what makes a good line: picking up on a thing that other guys don’t have,” said Wilson. “For me, they’re doing good things with the puck when it’s in their hands. It’s good for me to go get it and give it to Kuzy or Ovie and let them do the rest.
“You have to have every element or it’s not going to work. It’s such a balanced league, it’s such a balanced lineup nowadays that it’s important to have those guys getting the puck.”
It’s not only important, it’s also proving to be expensive.