The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that they have signed defenseman Philippe Myers to a two-year contract extension. The contract carries an average annual value of $850,000.
(Salary ap information from puckpedia.com)
The Toronto Maple Leafs now have seven defensemen signed for next season and beyond. Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jake McCabe are all signed until the end of the 2027-28 season. Simon Benoit, Marshall Rifai, and now Myers are signed until the end of the 2026-27 season.
Myers, 27, has appeared in 11 games for the Maple Leafs this season and has registered two assists while averaging 17:08 of ice time.
This is a nice bit of business by the Leafs, as they don't exceed the league minimum by much (if at all) and Myers is a decent enough player who still has a bit of upside. In the past, the Leafs have errored by giving players like Ryan Reaves, Simon Benoit and Connor Timmins contracts that were slightly above the league minimum, which individually doesn't matter so much, but collectively it starts to add up.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Philippe Myers to a Contract Extension
The Moncton, New Brunswick native has appeared in 169 career NHL games between the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He has registered eight goals and 30 assists for 38 points. He has represented Canada at both the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2019 IIHF World Championship, capturing silver medals at both competitions.
(All stats from hockey-reference.com)
The Leafs signed Myers as an unrestricted free agent on July 2, 2024, to a one-year contract for $775,000. The 6-foot-5, 219-pound defenseman has become a reliable defender for Leafs head coach Craig Berube. Thus, he has earned himself an extension.
While most players who are 27 years-old are unlikely to improve much at the pro level, it does happen. Myers is so large, and he skates so well for a guy of his size, that there has always seemed to be another level to his game that he hasn't quite been able to reach.
There is also the fact that his previous contract, signed at 23 with the Flyers, was for $2.5 million and forced teams to spend three years picking cheaper players to use at the fringes of their roster. Myers' high salary worked against him getting NHL minutes when he should have been developing his game in his mid-twenties, and thus there is a thought that he could still be a bit of a "late bloomer."
In 11 games so far this year, the Leafs get 57% of the high-danger chances when he's on the ice, and his expected goals rating is a very strong 53%. When a right-handed shot is posting those numbers for the league minimum, you pretty much can't go wrong.