Auston Matthews will be well paid to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a Stanley Cup championship. The question for the star centre is if his four-year $53 million US extension — formally signed Wednesday — will be enough to get the team over the difficult NHL playoff hump.
The deal carries an average annual value of $13.25 million, which makes Matthews the league's highest-paid player starting in 2024-25 — passing Colorado Avalanche's star Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6M AAV). "I feel fortunate to continue this journey as a Maple Leaf in front of the best fans in hockey," Matthews posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. "I will do everything I can to help us get to the top of the mountain." I feel fortunate to continue this journey as a Maple Leaf in front of the best fans in hockey!
I will do everything I can to help get us to the top of the mountain. GLG! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeafsForever?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LeafsForever</a> Matthews said Friday it was a priority to get the deal done before training camp. "It was something I didn't want to rush in to obviously right away," said Matthews. "But just the whole process itself with [General Manager] Brad [Treliving] coming in, getting to know him, the moves that we've made in the off-season, obviously I've expressed before my passion, my belief in this team and loving playing here in the city of Toronto and for these great fans.
Matthews has one season left on his current contract — a five-year, $58.2-million pact signed in February 2019 — that could have walked him into unrestricted free agency next summer.