Toronto Maple Leafs: Was Auston Matthews Contract a Mistake?

Sid Seixeiro has never been shy of creating controversy and in a recent Twitter post he criticized ex Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas for the contracts he signed with John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews.

The criticism behind the Matthews contract was that the Toronto Maple Leafs “Paid Matthews top dollar without getting an 8-year commitment”.

While many fans would have loved to get Matthews locked down to the maximum length of contract and not go through this summer wondering will he or won’t he be here in the foreseeable future, this contract was not out of the norm for the league.

While it would be better if the Leafs had Matthews locked up for another three years, the Leafs still control his rights, have a whole year to negotiate with him, can give him the longest and most expensive contract,  and he is highly likely to sign another deal in Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews

In previous years some of the leagues top superstars signed five-year extensions out of their entry level contracts.  These players have included Sidney Crosby, Evegni Malkin, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos, Ryan Getzlaf, Patrice Bergeon and Phil Kessel.

Seixeiro’s comment also refers to Dubas paying Matthews top dollar as he was paid $11.64 Million which works out to 14.64% of the Maple Leafs cap his first season.  When you compare it to the rest of the list, Matthews does not jump out as being overpaid compared to the other cap (ref: www.capfriendly.com) hits:

Sidney Crosby 17.3%
Evegni Malkin 15.3%
Auston Matthews 14.6%
Steven Stamkos 11.7%
Jonathan Toews 11.1%
Patrick Kane 11.1%
Patrice Bergeron 10.8%
Ryan Getzlaf 10.6%
Phil Kessel 9.5% (info from capfriendly.com).

The big difference between the Matthews contract and the rest of the group is that the salary cap has gone up just 1.2% in the four seasons since his deal kicked in, and it seems insane to blame Dubas for Covid.

This is compared to it rising approximately 11.5% in the five seasons through the Stamkos deal which included a decline in the cap because of the 2012-13 lockout.  By the final years of both Toews and Kane’s contracts their cap hits had dropped nearly 2% each, while the Leafs have been hurt by Matthews’ percentage dropping just 0.7%.

That group won a total of one Hart, Selke and Art Ross trophies, while collecting a pair of Rocket Richards and a Lester Pearson awards.  By comparison, Matthews has a pair of Rocket Richards by himself, as well as a Hart and Lester Pearson award.

Despite still having one year left on his contract, Matthews is only five goals shy of the 193 goals Stamkos scored during the entirety of his contract and five points behind Getzlaf’s 342 points.  Both those players had the most in those respective categories in the group.

Playoff success is the big factor of the contract, but it wasn’t until future contracts when Kessel and Stamkos would finally win their first Stanley Cups, while both Malkin and Getzlaf were held without rings during these contracts as they both won previously while being on their entry level contracts.

It would have been ideal for the Dubas to be able to sign Matthews to an eight-year deal, however the contract was similar to what other superstars had signed.  Dubas should not be praised for the deal, however he should not be criticized for it either as it was a fair deal.