MORE ALL-STARS DOESN’T MEAN A BETTER TEAM
Canada’s NHL clubs put too much money into too few players
ST. LOUIS In 2015-16, the Toronto Maple Leafs sent Leo Komarov as their lone representative to the All-star Game.
It was more of a formality than a reflection of his play.
At the time, Komarov had 16 goals and 31 points in 48 games. He would finish the season with just 19 goals and 36 points for a Leafs team that ended up deadlast in the standings and then drafted Auston Matthews with the No. 1 overall pick.
Four years later, Matthews is heading to the All-star Game (though he won’t play because of a nagging wrist injury) after scoring 34 goals and 57 points in 49 games. Three other Toronto players — Mitch Marner, who is also an All-star, William Nylander and John Tavares — have also surpassed Komarov’s point total with a little less than half the season still to play.
In other words, there’s a lot more talent in Toronto these days.
You could say the same for the rest of the country, where 13 of the top-30 scorers are playing for Canadian teams.
There are two Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy candidates (Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl) in Edmonton, a Vezina Trophy candidate (Connor Hellebuyck) in Winnipeg, a Calder Trophy candidate (Quinn Hughes) in Vancouver and a Rocket Richard Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy candidate (Matthews) in Toronto.
What is surprising is that the top-end talent hasn’t exactly translated to team success.
The Canucks are atop of the constantly changing Pacific Division, with the Oilers and Flames technically tied for the final two wild card spot in the West. But four of the other Canadians teams are currently on the outside looking in of the playoffs.
How is this possible? How is Toronto, which has three of the top-30 scorers and goalie who was good enough to be an All-star, ranked below the Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings?
Well, the answer lies in the previous paragraphs.
Top-end talent costs top-end money. Five of the top-nine cap hits are being paid in Canadian dollars. In the salary cap world, too much of that talent can cause an imbalance that may lead to individual awards but not much else.
The Islanders don’t have a player ranked among the top-40 in scoring, while the Blue Jackets don’t have anyone among the top-60. The Islanders also don’t have anyone earning more than $7-million, while Columbus doesn’t even have anyone being paid $6-million.
That was the same financial formula that led the Blues and Bruins, who don’t have anyone making more than $7.5-million, to the Stanley Cup final last year.
The Oilers, who have missed the playoffs in three of Mcdavid’s four seasons, have known this for years. With Mcdavid and Draisaitl earning a combined $21-million — that’s 25 per cent of the cap — the team has been unable to afford wingers who can fill the back of the net on a regular basis.
Those problems are now being experienced in Toronto and Winnipeg.
When the Leafs invested more than $40-million into the Big 4 of Matthews, Tavares, Marner and Nylander, it meant there was only about $41-million left to fill out the rest of the roster. As a result, the team is paying its backup goalie $700,000.
And when injuries hit the blue line, Toronto had to reach deep into its minor-league system rather than looking around the league for more expensive help.
The same issues have plagued the Jets this season following last summer’s re-signing of
Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor to contracts that totalled nearly $14-million annually. That’s slightly more than what Winnipeg has budgeted for its defence.
The Canucks don’t have this problem … yet.
Elias Pettersson, who is ranked 15th in scoring with 51 points, is still on the second year of a three-year entry-level contract that comes with a cap hit under $1-million. Hughes, who has two more years remaining on an entry-level contract, also has a cap hit less than $1-million.
That’s allowed Vancouver to weather some previous financial mistakes, such as paying Loui Eriksson a team-high $6-million or tying up a combined $6-million in bottom-six forwards’ Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle. But it also means that Vancouver’s window of opportunity could be shrinking.
They have to win now. If not, they might be looking at a future where they have a team of all-stars and not much else to show for it.