Wednesday afternoon, Auston Matthews made a statement on Twitter that appeared as though he and the Toronto Maple Leafs had come to an extension.
While it was not clear a deal was done, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced through Twitter and their own website that two sides had come to an agreement of four years with an annual salary cap hit of $13.25 Million.
While people like Sid Seixeiro will be negative on the deal stating the Maple Leafs were only able to get four-years on the extension, you can rest assured this is a good deal for the team and the player.
In one view, yes Matthews is only committing four-years, but he is signing the deal right before the market is about to take off as the salary cap is expected to jump from $83.5 Million this year to $88 Million next season with no slowdown in sight.
It made no sense for the league’s best goal scorer to lock himself into an eight year extension, unless the Toronto Maple Leafs were willing to jump over $16 Million to do so and if they did you can assure yourself William Nylander would be gone.
Back in June, I wrote an article on three potential contracts that Matthews could sign, one being a three-year deal worth $13.5 Million per season. It is easy to see one more year at a quarter of a million per season less is a steal.
Keeping the Trio on the Toronto Maple Leafs
If the organization wanted to remain competitive over the next decade, they had to keep the trio of Nylander, Matthews and Mitch Marner under contract, however the 2024-25 season was going to be the toughest.
The Nylander and Matthews extensions (if signed) would start, accompanied with John Tavares and Marner’s contracts going into their final year.
With the four year deal, it keeps Matthews deal lower than what it would have been had he signed a longer term deal. This allows the organization to potentially signed Nylander and keep the trio moving forward.
The Toronto Maple Leafs also get Matthews for five more seasons during the absolute prime years of his career. The 6’2″ center is now locked in as a Maple Leaf from ages 26 through to 30 years old and at a cap friendly deal.
As Paul Bissonnette states, Matthews is going to average 50-goals a season over the entirety of that contract and probably win the team two more Hart Trophies.
For Matthews, it allows him to become the highest paid player in the National Hockey League, while also allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent shortly before his 31st birthday.
The only question now is whether or not general manager Brad Treliving can get William Nylander signed over the next few days.