Auston Matthews signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $13.25 million and begins next season.
Matthews has one year remaining on the five-year, $58.17 million contract he signed on Feb. 5, 2019. The new contract runs through the 2027-28 season.
Matthews tweeted on Wednesday, “I feel fortunate to continue this journey as a Maple Leaf in front of the best fans in hockey! I will do everything I can to help get us to the top of the mountain. GLG!”
The 25-year-old forward had 85 points (40 goals, 45 assists) in 74 games with the Maple Leafs last season and had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Scottsdale, Arizona, native has 542 points (299 goals, 243 assists) in 481 NHL games and 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists) in 50 playoff games. Matthews is tied for fifth with Rick Vaive in goals and is 11th in points in Maple Leafs history.
“Hearing that news today, it doesn’t get better than that for us here in Toronto and our fan base,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said Wednesday. “I know how much he loves it here. The conversations I’ve had with him, he really wants to be here and continue to build and see this through and find our way to where we want to get to.
“In our conversations, he made that very clear (he wants to be here). It doesn’t surprise me it was something he wanted to get done and just get put behind him and continue to move forward and not be something everyone has to answer about or talk about or think about. He’s a big part of the future here and now he will just continue on with what he’s been doing and become a better and better player like he has every year.”
Matthews won the Hart Memorial Trophy voted as the NHL most valuable player for the 2021-22 season when he led the NHL with 60 goals, a Maple Leafs single-season record.
Matthews also won the 2022 Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player as voted by NHLPA members, becoming the first Maple Leafs player to win the award. He won the Rocket Richard Memorial Trophy in consecutive seasons (2020-21 and 2021-22) and the 2016 Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. Matthews has represented Toronto at the NHL All-Star Game four times (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022) and has been named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team in 2022 and Second All-Star Team in 2021.
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