Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews gets four-year extension that makes him NHL’s top-paid player
The highest-paid player in the National Hockey League (NHL) is now Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, who inked a four-year, $53 million contract extension on Wednesday. The deal’s average annual value, when it begins during the 2024–25 season, will be the highest in the league. The current record is held by Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, who signed an eight-year contract in September 2022 that begins this season. Three-time Hart Trophy winner and league MVP Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, who is third with $12.5 million. All three players were former No. 1 overall draft selections.
Drafted in 2016, Matthews has scored 299 goals in his professional debut season, two more than Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. In his debut NHL game, he netted four goals, and with 40 goals overall, he won the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year.
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With a salary of around $11.6 million per year, Matthews led the league in goals twice, peaking with sixty in 2021–22—the year he won the Hart Trophy.
“I consider myself lucky to be embarking on this adventure as a Maple Leaf in front of the greatest hockey supporters! “I’ll exert every effort to assist in reaching the summit of the mountain,” Matthews wrote in a post on X, the previous Twitter platform.
Last season, for the first time since 2004, the Maple Leafs advanced past the first round; nevertheless, they were defeated by the Florida Panthers in the second round.
The Maple Leafs had a busy summer, adding Ryan Reaves, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Max Domi to bolster their gritty roster. Matthews’ deal is just one more addition to that.
William Nylander is qualified for an extension and is in the last year of his contract.
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