Maple Leafs sign superstar center Auston Matthews to massive extension
He likely wasn’t going anywhere anyway, but Auston Matthews has signed a contract extension with the Maple Leafs that will compensate him very well.
The Maple Leafs showed Auston Matthews the money.
Now into his third NHL season, Matthews has been as good as advertised with 178 points in 182 games (97 goals, sixth-most in the league over that span). He was slated to become a restricted free agent this summer, but the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft has agreed to a five-year, $58.17 million contract extension with the Maple Leafs.
At $11.634 million, Matthews’ new deal has the second-highest average annual value in the league. Only Connor McDavid ($12.5 million) is higher, and Matthews’ teammate John Tavares now falls to third in average annual value ($11 million).
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Matthews will get 93 percent of his money in the form of signing bonuses.
Bob McKenzie of TSN has the year-by-year breakdown of the Matthews deal.
Auston Matthews year by year breakdown:
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 5, 2019
Year 1: $15.2M SB, $700K salary.
Year 2: $15.2M SB, $700K salary.
Year 3: $9.7M SB, $750K salary.
Year 4: $7.2M SB, $750K salary.
Year 5: $7.2M SB, $750K salary.
That’s $54.5M in SB, $3.65M in salary.
Matthews will have a total No Move Clause in the final year of the deal. Which is the first year it can kick in, per the CBA.
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) February 5, 2019
Matthews will get $40.1 million in signing bonus in the first three years of the deal, and by July 1, 2020, he will have collected $30.4 million of that. It’s also a shorter deal than an eight-year max that no one would have scoffed at for Matthews, as the Maple Leafs look to maintain a bit of financial flexibility.
Winger Mitch Marner, the team’s leading scorer with 63 points this season, is also in line for a new contract as he approaches restricted free agency. As it looks right now, Matthews, Tavares, William Nylander and Marner are in line to account for 45-50 percent of Toronto’s allotted cap space next season (based on an $83 million projection).
Next. One reason each NHL team can win the Stanley Cup. dark
Matthews is now slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024 when he’ll still only be approaching his 27th birthday. But Toronto has locked up one of the biggest pieces of what should be a perennial Stanley Cup contender, and there’s hope the franchise’s lengthy Cup drought will end sometime soon.