Auston Matthews became the highest paid player in the NHL Wednesday evening when he signed a 4-year, $53M contract extension. The deal will pay him $13.25M per season, surpassing Nathan MacKinnon's $12.6M AAV, which was previously the highest salary in the league.
Leafs captain John Tavares is skating in a charity hockey game tonight and was in Brampton, Ontario for the event when he heard the news that Matthews had finally put pen to paper on his record-setting contract extension. When asked about Matthews' extension prior to the game, here's what Tavares had to say:
Like Tavares, Leaf fans have been absolutely thrilled since news broke of Matthews staying in Toronto for another 4 years beyond next season as they get to see him chase more Leaf records, and hopefully hoist a Stanley Cup.
Tavares himself is eligible for an extension come July 1st, 2024, when he enters into the final year of his 7-year deal he signed with the Leafs in the summer of 2017. His next deal with the Leafs, should he opt to remain in Toronto, will likely come with a significant discount as he will be into his mid 30's.
