[Signing] Leafs sign Auston Matthews to contract extension (5 yrs, $11.634 mil AAV)

[sureLoss]

haha Bob fixed the AAV, his first tweet said $5.5 mil AAV which would have been bonkers

Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzie
Situation today is no different than what we reported on @LeafsLunch1050 yesterday — Auston Matthews’ contract extension with TOR appears imminent. Today, tomorrow, whatever, it’s getting done. Projection is 5 years with an AAV of $11.5M, give or take 100K or 200K.


Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Hearing TOR and Matthews closing the extension. Will be five years, between $11.5-11.7 AAV

Pierre LeBrun @PierreVLeBrun
The Auston Matthews contract extension is done. Should be announced today. Five-year deal. The AAV I believe is somewhere between $11.5 million and $11.7 million...

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
The exact number is going to be announced shortly, but I believe it will be $11.634.


WOW

Chris Johnston @reporterchris
The Auston Matthews contract will see 93% of the money paid in signing bonuses.

[chummer]

nm

[devo22]

haha 5.5 would have been unreal.

11.5 sounds about right. Have fun in cap hell.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

haha Bob fixed the AAV, his first tweet said $5.5 mil AAV which would have been bonkers

Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzie
Situation today is no different than what we reported on @LeafsLunch1050 yesterday — Auston Matthews’ contract extension with TOR appears imminent. Today, tomorrow, whatever, it’s getting done. Projection is 5 years with an AAV of $11.5M, give or take 100K or 200K.

[Darkknight]

I have a hard time believing that number is accurate. Maybe on a 2 year bridge deal, but that seems like a huge amount of money to give up over the course of that contract.

Edit: That makes much more sense.

[transplant99]

Kypreos was saying something brewing at the beginning of HC a few minutes ago as well.

If Matthews signs for 11.5, you can bet your booty that Matthew Tkachuk will be asking for 9 or more.

[Otto-matic]

Man Dubas caved in pretty quick with Matthews.

Almost McDavid money for less term.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Kypreos was saying something brewing at the beginning of HC a few minutes ago as well.

If Matthews signs for 11.5, you can bet your booty that Matthew Tkachuk will be asking for 9 or more.

You can also bank on Marner ending up in the 9+ mark too.

[Weitz]

Apparently the ask on an 8 year deal was $16+ according to Kypreos?

Citing a new USA Tv deal, gambling revenue, etc..

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

Man Dubas caved in pretty quick with Matthews.

Almost McDavid money for less term.

$1M less AAV on decent term in an even higher cap scenario? I'd say its a huge win for the Leafs as Matthews likely could command well above $12.5M if he wanted to.

Had the Oilers not been so quick to cream their sheets on the McDavid deal they might have been able to also shave $1M off that AAV and have a bit more flexibility to field a better team.

[agulati]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Apparently the ask on an 8 year deal was $16+ according to Kypreos?

Citing a new USA Tv deal, gambling revenue, etc..

If that is the case, holy crap! I'm glad we got Gaudreau for under 7 for now.

[sureLoss]

CapFriendly @CapFriendly
$11.5M AAV would represent 14.46% of the cap based on the current 2018-19 ceiling of $79.5M.

That would give Matthews the sixth highest cap hit% at signing behind Ovechkin 16.8%, McDavid 16.7%, Toews/Kane 15.2%, and Malkin 14.8%.

[Robbob]

Wow. 5 years with AAV of 11.5, only 1M less than McJesus who got 3 more years. Kind of surprised they didn't get another year.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Not sure what else the Leafs can do. He will potentially leave as a UFA, but at least it is at a number they should be able to fit in Marner as part of the core for the next 5 years or so.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

You can also bank on Marner ending up in the 9+ mark too.

Except I don't know how they afford all of that. As of today they have $19M in cap space for next year. If Matthews takes 11.5 of it, that's 8.5 left. Assuming they cut Gardiner and Hainsey loose they still have to replace them. They also have Kapanen (and pretty much the rest of the bottom 6) up for a contract and they will need a backup, whether it's Sparks or someone else.

ETA: Marleau's contract is kinda buyout proof as well.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

$1M less AAV on decent term in an even higher cap scenario? I'd say its a huge win for the Leafs as Matthews likely could command well above $12.5M if he wanted to.

Had the Oilers not been so quick to cream their sheets on the McDavid deal they might have been able to also shave $1M off that AAV and have a bit more flexibility to field a better team.

Yeah all this is saying is that the Leafs window is 5 years...at best.

They will likely lose Matthews at age 26, but thats the price of doing business in the NHL now.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Except I don't know how they afford all of that. As of today they have $19M in cap space for next year. If Matthews takes 11.5 of it, that's 8.5 left. Assuming they cut Gardiner and Hainsey loose they still have to replace them. They also have Kapanen (and pretty much the rest of the bottom 6) up for a contract and they will need a backup, whether it's Sparks or someone else.

ETA: Marleau's contract is kinda buyout proof as well.

Only way I see it is if they trade Nylander for spare parts.

[Shazam]

Nylander's been playing like ass, so it very well might happen.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Yeah all this is saying is that the Leafs window is 5 years...at best.

They will likely lose Matthews at age 26, but thats the price of doing business in the NHL now.

It's actually pretty smart on the Dubas front if this is true and I wouldn't be surprised to see this as the new trend. As a GM you need to realize that hemming yourself into a corner for 12 years like the Oilers did with McDavid at that AAV is not good business when your best chance at winning is the next 2-3 seasons.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Potentially losing Matthews at the age of 26, when he is just entering his prime, makes me question the value of a 1st round pick these days.