Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (reacts after scoring against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 24, in Tampa, Fla.Chris O'Meara/The Associated Press
The Maple Leafs took care of their biggest outstanding concern on Wednesday when star centre Auston Matthews agreed to a four-year contract extension that will keep him with the club through the 2027-28 season.
With the US$53-million deal, the 25-year-old will become the highest-paid player in the National Hockey League. The contract holds an average annual value of US$13.25-million.
Matthews became eligible for an extension on July 1, and getting him in the fold for years to come was the priority of Brad Treliving, who took over as Toronto’s general manager earlier this summer.
Treliving, who held the same job in Calgary for nine seasons, replaced Kyle Dubas after the latter was fired following the Maple Leafs’ exit in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was the first time the team had advanced past the opening round since 2004.
Neither the team nor Matthews issued a formal announcement. The club issued a press release and made a post on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, and Matthews did the same.
“I feel fortunate to continue this journey as a Maple Leaf in front of the best fans in hockey,” Matthews wrote. “I will do anything I can do to get us to the top of the mountain.”
He had been seeking an eight-year agreement but the team would not commit to such a long term.
Matthews had 40 goals and 45 assists during the 2022-23 season and added five goals and six assists in 11 postseason games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. He has 299 goals and 542 points in 481 regular-season games since the Maple Leafs selected him in 2016 with the first pick in the NHL entry draft. He has 22 goals and 44 points through 50 playoff games but his gaudy numbers have not yet been enough to propel Toronto on a lengthy postseason run.
Among all-time franchise leaders, Matthews is tied for fifth in goals and tied for second in overtime goals with nine. He is also fifth overall in power-play goals (76), fourth in game-winning goals (53), and 11th in points.
Matthews still has one year remaining on his current contract, a five-year deal worth US$58.2-million which was signed on Feb. 5, 2019.
Matthews won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player after the 2021-22 season when he led the league in goals (60) and set the Maple Leafs’ single-season franchise record. Matthews also won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer in consecutive seasons (2020-21 and 2021-22) and captured the 2016 Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.
He has represented Toronto at the NHL all-star game on four occasions during his career (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022) and has been named to the NHL’s first all-star team and second all-star team on one occasion each (2022 and 2021, respectively).
Treliving has been busy since he joined the Maple Leafs 83 days ago. Among other moves, he has retained Sheldon Keefe as head coach, helped to shore up the defensive corps by signing John Klingberg and added substantial grit in forwards Ryan Reaves, Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi.
During Dubas’s five years nearly 50 per cent of the club’s salary cap was dedicated to four offensive players. John Tavares, the veteran captain, makes US$11-million a year and has a no-move contract. Mitch Marner earns US$10.9-million a season and has two years remaining on his deal. William Nylander is headed into the final year of his at close to US$7-million per year.
Those contracts have made it hard for Toronto to add players without subtracting some and the roster is significantly different from only a year ago.
The deal is the largest that Treliving, who also spent six years as assistant general manager of the Arizona Coyotes, has ever given to a player. The largest until now had been when he signed Jonathan Huberdeau for eight years at US$10.5-million a season in Calgary.