*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
Back up the Brinks truck for this star. The Toronto Maple Leafs and center Auston Matthews have agreed to a 4 year, $53 million contract extension, according to an announcement by the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
When his new contract kicks in when the 2024-2025 season starts, he'll pass Nathan MacKinnon as the highest paid player in the NHL. He'll make $13.25 million annually, with $49.65 million of his $53 million contract in the form of a signing bonus. The contract runs through the end of the 2027-2028 season and has a full no movement clause for all 4 years.
For the upcoming season, Matthews will play out the final year of a 5 year contract that pays him $11,640,250 million with a full no movement clause. He was a pending UFA at the end of the year, but now his services are secured.
Last season, Matthews had another stellar season as the star of the Maple Leafs. He potted 40 goals and added 45 assists, totaling 85 points with a +31 rating, averaging 20:17 of ice time in 74 regular season games. He also recorded 5 goals and 6 assists in 11 playoff games.
Matthews has spent all 7 years in the NHL with the Maple Leafs after being the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. He has amassed 299 goals and 243 assists for 542 points. He's averaged 19:36 of ice time with a +109 rating in 481 games. Matthews also has 22 goals and 22 assists with an even 0 rating in 50 playoff games.
In 2021-2022, Matthews became the first player in Maple Leafs history to score 60 goals in a season. He won the Rocket Richard trophy in back to back seasons, doing so in 2021 and 2021-2022. His 299 goals are tied for Rick Vaive for 5th in team history, while ranking 11th in points with 542.
Over 7 NHL seasons, Matthews has 223 goals at 5 on 5 play, leading all players. His 299 goals since 2016-2017 also lead the league. He surpassed 40 goals for the 4th consecutive season in 2022-2023 and helped lead the Maple Leafs to their first playoff series win since 2004.
Matthews became the first Maple Leafs player to win the Ted Lindsay award when he won it in 2022, and also won the NHL MVP in 2021-2022 with his 60 goal season. That season also made him the first Maple Leafs player since Doug Gilmor in the 1993-1994 season to record at least 100 points in a season.
When Matthews' contract kicks in next year, the Maple Leafs will have approximately $33.4 million in cap space to work with, but have Ilya Samsonov, Tyler Bertuzzi, TJ Brodie, and William Nylander will all be due new contracts.
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