Brad’s Secret Sauce: How Does He Keep Signing Bargain Contracts?

Brad did it again. He signed Anthony Stolarts to a team-friendly contract. I have no idea how Brad does this, but he has been consistently on this in the off-season. Anthony signed a four-year deal worth $3.75 million per year.

Anthony might not be an elite goaltender quite yet, but as far as I see, he is in the upper echelon in the league. And what does an upper-echelon goalie get? To me, that puts him in the $5 million year bracket. Some teams that desperately need a goalie would be willing to go as high as $7 million, especially with salaries increasing as much as what seems to be a billion dollars. OK, I’m being a little facetious, but you understand where I’m coming from. I genuinely believe that with the salary going up, no team would have a problem meeting his demands if Anthony had gone the free agency route.

It looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs have decided to go with Max Domi on the front line. The Maple Leafs are hoping to revive Max to his earlier form, as in the 2022-23 season, he had 49 points in 60 games, including 18 goals and 31 assists. Quite decent numbers! Can he achieve them in Toronto? 

I am not saying we will get the Max of the past. However, we have seen that players given more responsibilities tend to respond positively. It has been a long time since Max was placed on the first line. This season, he has never been given the opportunity to play with a player as good as Auston Matthews, let alone  Matthew Knies. Max can be a physical force, making more room for Matthew and Auston to make plays. Max will have plenty of opportunities to get the garbage goals diving in for the rebounds in front of the net. 

I’m in the minority here. I genuinely believe Easton  Cowan is better off playing in the top six in the  AHL with the Toronto Marlies. My thinking is that Cowan has always been the man. Having him stay on the fourth line in Toronto might very well hinder his progress. He will not have the opportunities to use his skills on the fourth line. That’s all I’m saying. I am not saying he has not earned the shot at playing on the team. But I believe that you should not rush young players. I don’t want him to lose his skills, because he doesn’t have the chance to use them.