LEAFS LOCK UP MATTHEWS
MAPLE LEAFS SIGN STAR CENTRE TO FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION
The Toronto Maple Leafs got their man and some salary cap certainty. Auston Matthews got rich.
The Leafs signed their 21year-old star centre Tuesday to a US$58.17 million, five-year contract extension with an average annual value of $11.634 million.
Matthews will be 26 when the deal expires in 2023-24. Unless something untoward happens in between, an even bigger Brink’s truck will be needed then given he will be an unrestricted free agent.
“Regardless if I’m making $1 or $11 million, I’m not going to change who I am,” a relaxed Matthews told eight TV cameras and a phalanx of some three dozen media squeezed into in the Leafs dressing room.
“Nothing really changes for me,” he added. “I’m going to be myself every day. I’m going to have fun. I get to play hockey and do what I love. Now I’m fortunate to do it for a lot of money ... I feel very fortunate and very lucky — especially to do it in the city of Toronto.”
Signing now gives Leafs GM Kyle Dubas a clearer picture of his salary cap ahead with the Feb. 25 trade deadline looming.
With William Nylander signing a six-year extension in December — with an average annual value of $10.2 million this season and $6.9 million in the next five — and veteran John Tavares on Year 1 of a seven-year, $77-million deal, the focus now switches to 21-year-old winger Mitch Marner.
Like Marner, Matthews was eligible to become a restricted free agent on July 1 after their three-year entry-level deals expire. Contract talks with Marner, however, have been put on hold until after the season at agent Darren Ferris’s request.
“We’re respecting the wishes of Darren,” said Dubas. “If they were to change their stance on it, then we’re open to that. But for right now, we’ll respect their wishes and we’ll carry on with the season here.”
Added Dubas: “When they’re ready to sit down, we’ll talk. He’s going to be a Toronto Maple Leaf for a long time, regardless of how we have to come to that.”
The goal is to keep the Toronto talent together for as long as possible. Going into league play Tuesday, the Leafs ranked fourth in the league with a 32-17-3 record.
Dubas said talks over a new deal for Matthews started last July with Matthews adding they talked contracts with a range in terms from three years to eight. The Matthews camp initially wanted longer term, which carries a higher average annual value, but agreed on the fiveyear deal giving the Leafs more flexibility, Dubas suggested.
“We’re trying to build a team that can have sustained success, not just contend once,” Dubas said. “You look, there’s a litany of teams all across every professional sport, they’re very good teams for a long time but they can’t ever push it across the finish line. I think a lot of that is luck-related and luck-based.
“I think we want to give ourselves the maximum number of chances we can to make a real good go at it. In saying that, keeping the young core of our team together and then building out a program where they want to stay here on their subsequent contracts, I think that falls on us. It doesn’t fall on the players.”