The one Maple Leafs debate that makes zero sense

An insane online debate has brewed, positing that Cale Makar’s record-setting contract is somehow inferior to Darren Raddysh’s.

In essence, the main argument claims that the Toronto Maple Leafs got a better deal by signing Raddysh to an $8.5 million cap hit compared to Makar’s league-high $20.4 million AAV.

That argument is wrong on so many levels.

It’s not comparing apples to oranges. It’s like comparing apples to spaceships.

There is no way that Raddysh is even in the same conversation as Makar. Makar is a proven commodity. He has the Norris Trophies, Stanley Cup, and Conn Smythe Trophy to back up what the Colorado Avalanche paid for him.

Now, that’s not to say that Darren Raddysh is not a good player. He’s a fine pickup for the Maple Leafs, though I believe Toronto overpaid.

Be that as it may, arguing that the Leafs got a better deal for Raddysh than what the Avalanche got for Makar is preposterous. Believe you me, if the Maple Leafs had a chance to sign Cale Makar, they too would have given him the same type of contract.

That’s why this discussion is naught more than clickbait. Whoever was behind the original opinion knew what they were doing. It was just a way of stirring the pot.

They succeeded and got their 15 minutes of fame.

Raddysh’s contract looks like a drop in the bucket for the Maple Leafs

I will concede the point that Raddysh’s contract suddenly looks like a drop in the bucket for the Maple Leafs. $8.5 million looks like chump change compared to Makar’s deal.

Of course, the circumstances were vastly different. Because both contracts were signed at different points, the Leafs actually got a good deal.

Suppose that Makar had signed this massive extension in June BEFORE the opening of free agency on July 1. Raddysh’s camp would have certainly used Makar’s contract to drive a harder bargain.

No, the asking price would not have been $20 million. But Raddysh could have dug his heels into the ground and demanded at least $10 million.

Compared to Makar’s deal, the cap hit would have looked like the sort of money you can find in the couch cushions.

Ultimately, the Maple Leafs were lucky to sign Raddysh when they did. Had Makar blown the doors off the defenseman market, things would have been vastly different for Raddysh and the Maple Leafs. I don’t think that Raddysh regrets signing the deal he did. But when looking at what would have happened in an alternate universe, hockey historians will look back at how the Leafs might have actually dodged a bullet.