Toronto Maple Leafs

Ron Wilson Verbally Agrees To Coach Leafs

Apparently the low-ball offer discussion between Howard Berger, Nick Kypreos, and a “member” of Ron Wilson’s family failed to derail contract negotiations between MLSE and their soon to be minted new head coach.

The contract is expected to be announced on Tuesday following a formal signing of the deal on Monday. According to TSN and Sportsnet, the length of the deal will be 4 years, and the value will be around $6.5 million, which works out to roughly $1,625,000 a year in salary. That should place him amongst the top 5 coaches in the NHL salary wise. It should be noted though that Cliff Fletcher has also publicly stated that “there is no contract until it is signed.” Fletch will be accepting the award for most obvious statement of the year at the NHL awards banquet on Thursday night, with Wilson possibly also in attendance.

I find it relatively amusing how dramatic the entire process has appeared, despite the fact that based on confirmed reports (as in confirmed by the parties actually involved in the negotiations) Wilson arrived in Toronto, he left after a few meetings with an offer so he could mull it over, with an informal “deadline” of Monday being set by Fletcher and MLSE. Now Wilson has responded with acceptance of said offer verbally on Sunday, and should arrive on Monday to formalize things. So basically he was interviewed, negotiated a deal, and agreed to it. I suppose this all amounts to sensationalist reporting… which I must admit I contributed to.

Apparently the Leafs didn’t screw everything up, and no matter what Sean McCormick at Sportsnet thinks, Ron Wilson is going to be receiving top 5 coaching money in the NHL. I guess Craig MacTavish will have to climb the pay scale ladder in due course.

Now we’ll get to see in the near future what sort of team Wilson can look forward to icing next season, and in the years going forwards. Things are looking up.