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Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews Extension Signed

By David Corcoran

TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 24: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his 36th goal of the season against the Minnesota Wild during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 24, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Wild 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 24: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his 36th goal of the season against the Minnesota Wild during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 24, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Wild 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs fans can breath a sigh of relief as the franchise that is Auston Matthews has signed an extension.

The deal was confirmed Tuesday afternoon by the Toronto Maple Leafs by way of Twitter (X) and comes with four years of term.

Terms of the deal reported from the organizations website shows that Matthews will earn an annual average salary at $13.25 Million starting in the 2024-25 season.  He will have one final year at slightly over $11.64 Million before his new contract comes in.

While the details are yet to be announced, you can expect that Matthews has earned a full no movement clause, with the entire contract being signing bonuses outside of the league minimum salary.

Matthews now becomes the highest paid player by average salary eclipsing Nathan MacKinnon who currently has a $12.6 Million cap hit.

Some will quickly judge the 15.87% that takes up the current cap hit, however the NHL salary cap is expected to jump to $88 Million next year, which means that will drop by almost an entire percent.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews Extension Signed

The Arizona native has been a star ever since being drafted first overall in the 2016 draft, right through winning the Calder Trophy with a 40-goal explosion in his rookie season.  Despite some injury filled seasons, Matthews has been the top goal scoring player in the league since his entrance which has included two Rocket Richard trophies, as well as both a Hart Trophy and a Ted Lindsay Award after a 60-goal in 73 game campaign in 2021-22.

Matthews currently sits fifth all-time in franchise goals scored with 299 and is set to pass Ron Ellis for fourth this upcoming season.  The 6’3″ center has a strong possibility of becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in franchise history by the end of next season as he is just 121 goals behind Mats Sundin’s 420.

He also 11th all time in franchise scoring as he climbs up the rankings with line mate Mitch Marner who sits in tenth.  The pair have a strong chance of each jumping into the top seven on the franchise list this upcoming season.

The signing of Auston Matthews now puts the Toronto Maple Leafs with cap hit of roughly $54.1 Million heading into the 2024-25 season.  If the rumours are true and the rises to $88 Million, this will leave them close to $34 Million to get William Nylander and Ilya Samsonov signed to extensions, along with adding their depth players.

The 2024-25 season is expected to be a tight situation for th Leafs salary cap wise, however that is the final year of the John Tavares $11 Million contract which will allow the team to become completely cap flexible moving forward after that.

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This contract is a complete win for both the player and the franchise.

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