The biggest record in the NHL! Toronto bombarded Matthews with millions of dollars
August 24, 2023
Who emerged victorious from the agreement: the club or the player?
The new season in the NHL has not yet started, but a record has already been set. Toronto has extended Auston Matthews’ contract. The deal is for four years and $53 million, so the salary cap under the contract will be $13.25 million, the most in league history. The contract will go into effect next fall.
Where is Matthews on this list?
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Like everything that happens with the Maple Leafs, this decision by the club is sure to provoke a heated and prolonged controversy. The first and most obvious reaction to what happened can only be summed up this way: the organizations suffered a costly defeat in the office. Matthews brought exactly 0 Stanley Cups to the Maple Leaf collection, and in general, his best performances hold up in the regular season. In the playoffs, Oston does not dissolve, but he also does not play the role of locomotive for his team. Along with him, Toronto only crossed the first round barrier once.
What’s next for Toronto?
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However, even if we ignore the collective achievements, it is impossible not to admit that Matthews has only one great season left – last year, when he scored six dozen goals and scored more than a hundred points. On roughly the same schedule, the striker participated in a Covid-shortened season, but last year was no longer as good as his new contract.
In one fell swoop, Oston beat out Nathan McKinnon ($12.6 million) and Connor McDavid ($12.5 million). So far, however, only in terms of the volume of the financial portfolio. The game difference between these two and Matthews isn’t measured in dollars and it’s still huge. McKinnon is the engine of the 2022 Colorado championship, McDavid is simply the greatest player of our time.
But that doesn’t mean a strong move from Auston won’t hurt Connor and Nathan. It’s easy to imagine how, in their upcoming conversations with the Edmontons and Colorados, they will draw even more impressive numbers on napkins as their own demands.
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It is true that in this sense Matthews complicates the future not only of the Oilers and Avalanche, but also of the Maple Leafs. William Nylander’s contract expires in one year, John Tavares and Mitchell Marner hit the market in two, and today’s deal will no doubt whet their appetite as well. Does this mean that the club has a plan to finally finish off the big four?
It’s also possible that the average contract length, which now looks like a win for the player, will play into Maple’s hands. Toronto kept an elite sharpshooter at home during its prime hockey years, and with the salary cap increase, his share of the total salary will stay roughly the same.
