Summer’s free agents will have stark choice

When the Maple Leafs signed 21-year-old Auston Matthews to a five-year contract extension this week it accomplished two things.

First, he’s one less big-ticket target for opposing general managers to chase with a qualifying offer in the summer. And second, his average salary of $11.634 million sets the bar for the remaining high-profile restricted free agents.

As the NHL becomes more of a young man’s game — and the young stars see their entrylevel contracts expire — the forecast is for a summer of unprecedented moves by teams willing to throw offer sheets at players whose current team would then be forced to either match the offer or lose the player.

I’m not really buying the whole “summer of offer sheets” theory. General managers are smart enough to have this figured out, and the fact Matthews’ deal was done well ahead of the offseason is proof.

But for those who want to run with it, consider this list of potential restricted free agents who could be targeted: Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen, Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk, Vancouver’s Brock Boeser, Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point, Vegas’ William Karlsson, Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, Columbus’ Zach Werenski, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba in addition to San Jose’s Timo Meier.

Few if any are going to command Matthews’ salary, but the fact he settled on five years suggests that’s the deal length most teams and agents will seek for the group.

The big question remains how sensitive will each pending restricted free agent be to his team’s salary-cap situation? Will there be a “get-as-muchas-I-can” attitude or might there be a willingness to offer a hometown discount if such a move helps the team contend for a Stanley Cup?

There is unspoken pressure from the players’ association for each individual not to shortchange himself. Salaries will continue to escalate as long as players fight for top-dollar deals.

Players are smart to distance themselves from the topic and let their agents handle the money matters. It’s the player’s job to produce — which would be reflected at the bargaining table — and continue to pull in the right direction toward the playoffs.

The Sharks’ Meier began the season as one of the league’s hottest scorers. It was ridiculous to think he’d score 60-plus goals after collecting 12 in his first 16 games, but 35 to 40 goals seemed possible — and that could have been costly for the Sharks.

However, his pace has cooled considerably and now with 19 goals in 52 games, he’s on pace to score 30. A good season, to be sure, and while GMs aren’t fixated solely on five months worth of numbers, Meier, 22, isn’t as much of a free agent target as he might have been. For that, the Sharks can breathe a sigh of relief.

Like a fine wine: Ageless ex-Shark Patrick Marleau will pass Scott Stevens, Dave Andreychuk, Chris Chelios and Mark Recchi and move into fifth place on the all-time games list with 1,657 if he appears in all 29 of Toronto’s remaining games. If Marleau, 39, plays all 82 again next season in the final year of his deal, he’ll move up to third, 17 behind Mark Messier’s runnerup total of 1,756 (Gordie Howe is first at 1,767). Don’t bet against it: Marleau has played in 759 straight games.

Briefly: San Jose’s Brent Burns is the first defenseman to record 50 assists in 55 or fewer team games since Sergei Zubov in 1993-94 with the Rangers. With 61 points, among defensemen Burns has a seven-point lead over the league’s other top Norris Trophy contender, Calgary’s Mark Giordano . ... The Ducks have lost 18 of 20, but are only four points out of a playoff spot. … The resurgent Blues are on pace to finish eighth in the West with 87 points. … Eight of Thursday’s 12 games went into overtime, tying a league record accomplished twice (Feb. 22, 2007, and Nov. 27, 2015).