Don't Overthink the Auston Matthews Extension

The Toronto Maple Leafs did "The Thing" on Wednesday, ensuring that their franchise face, the player who will almost certainly go down as the greatest in the organization's century-plus of existence, is locked in for the next half-decade. 

When all is said and done, Auston Matthews will have been a Maple Leaf for the entirety of his 20s. The club will have had the opportunity to dig deep and frack as much success as possible from the prime years of a generational talent — an asset the likes of which this team, one of the sport's most storied franchises, has had very little. 

This is a good thing. Only in Toronto would that even need to be said. 

When Matthews put pen to paper on the four-year contract extension that will pay him $13.25 million per year on Wednesday, breaking the news himself and becoming the NHL's highest-paid player in the process, the response was varied. 

And, you know what? That's perfectly fine. 

Leaf fans have been through enough over the years to warrant looking around the league and wondering why their superstar didn't concede anything on term and AAV. Other fanbases get to sleep soundly knowing their young core is strapped in for nearly a decade. Why can't they?

It's not that athletes shouldn't fight tooth and nail to be paid their worth. It's that other teams get to watch their stars toe the company line and commit the maximum allowable amount, while the Maple Leafs' two best players try to break the mould at the expense of cost certainty. 

It's a fair argument. But, in the case of Matthews, it's not one worth having. 

Why? Well, for starters, it keeps the organization accountable. 

Matthews loves Toronto. He's talked the talk in the media (and behind closed doors) and walked the walk publicly by raking in millions in endorsement deals and brand recognition that simply would not be available to him in the vast majority of other NHL markets. Even after the club unceremoniously fired the GM to whom he was very close, and who also happened to sign his last precedent-setting deal, in an oddly public saga mere weeks following another playoff disappointment, Matthews still readily committed the remainder of his prime to the Maple Leafs organization. 

If they gave him a reason, he was always going to stay. That reason ended up being a shot at winning and the belief that this team, with Matthews at the helm, could contend throughout the term of his contract. And now, when these next five years are up, they'll have to make Matthews believe that again. And the best way to do that is by building a very good hockey team to back that promise up.

Now, sticker shock is obviously a factor here. And, again, fans can't be blamed for their hesitation. Gary Bettman's NHL has conditioned the hockey-watching public into recoiling in horror at the thought of a player making $13.25 million annually when, over in the NBA, roleplayer Grant Williams signed an identical four-year deal this very summer. And if you could correctly name which team Williams played for before securing that payday with the Dallas Mavericks, you're a better person than I. 

In reality, Matthews will account for roughly 15 percent of the salary cap when his new deal kicks in, assuming that the cap rises to the $87.5 million figure Bettman has forecasted. That's the same percentage as Nathan MacKinnon's previously league-leading AAV of $12.6 million that kicks in this season, and substantially less than the 16.67 percent Connor McDavid's $12.5 million took up back in 2017 when he signed his own league-altering deal.

That's just what superstars make in the modern NHL. 

"The bottom line is, you're talking about one of the world's best talents," explained Leafs GM Brad Treliving to reporters about Matthews on Friday. 

"And in the situation he was in, he could've come in and demanded a lot more than he got." 

There is nothing to hand-wring about here. The Maple Leafs have the prime years of a homegrown, generational talent on their payroll for the next half-decade at a market-accurate price that will only get better as the cap continues to rise. Would nine years of this asset and cost certainty be better than five? Sure. But five years is a very long time in professional sports. And, if the Maple Leafs are still good enough to contend when 2028 rolls around and Matthews' hefty new contract comes to an end? Well, we can just do this song and dance all over again.