Doan discount

Will relationship with Matthews affect contract talks?

Shane Doan was asked what he would bring to the Maple Leafs, and he said it was hard to say because it will be such a new experience. As he is coming from a franchise where they play in a mall, and collect players after they’ve more or less died, and kind of run the team off the back of a truck, yes, it will be different to work for the Leafs than it was for the Arizona Coyotes.

But the Coyotes icon circled around to the most basic thing: how you deal with people.

“Realistically it comes down to relationships and people, and I think that’s one of the things that I’m comfortable with,” said Doan, in a Zoom call after being named as special adviser to new GM Brad Treliving. “I’m comfortable with my relationships with players, I have the ability to connect with them.

“Relationships, and having the ability to connect with people, and helping put them in the best situation possible for them to be successful. And I think that’s what team is all about, and I think that’s what leadership’s kind of all about, is finding a way to make everybody better.”

Nobody ever played more games for the Coyotes, and while you might note Arizona won two playoff series in Doan’s 20 years (and one in Winnipeg) it wasn’t necessarily his fault. He was the constant, a heart-and-soul guy, an anchor for a team that often felt like it might blow away to some other town. Doan ate a lot for that franchise, probably too much. He endured.

Which is probably why Auston Matthews considered Doan his favourite player, and has skated in sessions led by Doan since he was 16. Oh, and in case you hadn’t heard Matthews has one year left on his contract, a no-move clause kicking in July 1, and the ability to do more or less anything he decides, should he decide to do it.

He said he wants to remain a Leaf, though the idea that he is waiting to see how the post-Kyle Dubas world shakes out implies it’s not a certainty. Ideally, the organization would have had a deal with Matthews before July 1.

But then the relationship between the general manager and the team president imploded, and it took two weeks to replace Dubas with Treliving, and now the Leafs are two weeks from the draft. Doan is wellregarded, fills the role vacated by Jason Spezza, and has an open line to the best player on the team. Treliving is heading to meet Matthews in Arizona in the near future; maybe he can stay at Doan’s house. This is probably a good hire.

So of course Doan was asked, what about that Matthews contract?

“He has that right as a player to go through that (process),” said Doan, “and I think every single organization does that when they have an elite player. It’s no different with him. I’ll be involved in helping Brad and helping the organization in any way possible, and if I can help in that area, I’ll help. But at the same time, that’ll be his decision, and I’m excited about the opportunity to work with him for the next little bit.”

Really, the idea here should be simple. Doan should use his relationship with Matthews to tell him he needs to take less money than he could. I have always been a proponent of players getting every dollar they can, because careers can be short and the game demands a lot. I still believe that. Players negotiate what they can and, yes, the cap is projected to rise, and that needs to be taken into account.

But this is just how hockey works. Sidney Crosby took less than he could have. Connor McDavid took less. David Pastrnak took less. Nathan MacKinnon, when it was time to become the highest-paid player in hockey, surpassed McDavid by a whole $100,000 (U.S) per year. And before that, by any measure of performance, MacKinnon had been underpaid.

Matthews and Mitch Marner and William Nylander and John Tavares were all well within their rights to negotiate the deals they did. And had they performed better in the most critical moments, maybe this would all be easier, right?

Except they haven’t, and if they really do want to stay here — and the signals have been stasis in the Core Four rather than tumultuous change — the next contracts need to be more tilted toward the organization. Every one of the Core Four, who will remain both the focus and the weight of the organization until further notice, said at the end of the season that they want to stay here, and they want to win here. Tavares and Marner are local guys, and they seem especially dedicated to staying. And there is something to that: the pressure of being a Leaf is a real thing.

But now is the time for tough truth-telling, and if Shane Doan has a relationship with Matthews, and is comfortable being straight with players, then this has to be a part of his contribution. He should tell Matthews (and Nylander, who is also up in a year) that the NHL Players’ Association has lost so many times that the best players have to sacrifice money to give their teams a better chance to win, even if some of their teams are run by incompetent boobs. He should say that Dubas was pretty good at finding low-cost fill-ins around his core, and it’s far from clear that Treliving will be able to do the same. He should say Toronto provides lots of opportunities for more money that you don’t get in, say, Arizona, and that if you actually win big here you’re a legend forever.

The Core Four say they want to win here, to be part of a team, to sacrifice for their teammates, to prove everyone wrong. Guys, there’s an easy way to start.