NHL News: Auston Matthews Signs Four Extension with Maple Leafs
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced they have signed forward number 34 Auston Matthews to a four-year contract extension worth $53 million.

Matthews’s new contract carries an AAV of $13.25 million.

Puck Pedia: Auston Matthews has a full no-movement clause. Breakdown of his four-year, $13.25 million cap hit extension.

2024-25: $775,000 and a $15.925 million signing bonus
2025-26: $775,000 and a $14.425 million signing bonus
2026-27: $900,000 and a $10.18 million signing bonus
2027-28: $900,000 and a $9.12 million signing bonus

Auston Matthews is now the highest-paid player in the National Hockey League. It was not a question of whether he would be the highest-paid player, but by how much.

NHL Rumors: The Latest on Auston Matthews and William Nylander

Nathan MacKinnon just signed an extension with the Colorado Avalanche that carried an AAV of $12.6 million. Prior to that, Connor McDavid‘s cap hit of $12.5 million with the Edmonton Oilers was the highest.

Now it is Matthews who has set the market and don’t expect it to stay there very long. As NHLRumors.com wrote last season expect Matthews to hit it big again once this deal expires.

His new extension does not kick in until next season. Matthews had one year left on his current deal which expired at the end of the 2023-24 season. But new general manager Brad Treliving made it a priority to get him extended. He did not want this to be a distraction when training camp began in September.

The first overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft has been everything and more for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Last season with the Maple Leafs, Matthews recroded 85 points (40 goals and 45 assists) in 74 games. He added 11 points (five goals and six assists) in 11 playoff games.

This is following a season where Matthews set career highs in all three categories by recording 106 points (60 goals and 46 assists) in 73 games. That season the Scottsdale, Arizona native won the Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay and his Rocket Richard Trophy. Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy in back-to-back seasons in 20-21 and 21-22. He also won the Calder Trophy in 2016 as NHL Rookie of the Year.

For his career with the Maple Leafs, Matthews has recorded 542 points (299 goals and 243 assists) in 481 regular season games. In addition, in 50 playoff games, he recorded 44 points (22 goals and 22 assists). However, the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs were the only year Toronto has made it past Round One.

With Matthews now out of the way, the focus will turn to William Nylander and his extension.