The hysteria took off on Wednesday when the Toronto Maple Leafs announced the extension of their superstar sharpshooter, Auston Matthews. The Leafs broke the news that the first overall pick from 2016 inked a four-year extension with a $13.25M cap hit, the highest cap hit ever to be signed in the NHL (thus far).
While this may be a relief for some Leafs fans, Toronto isn't out of their misery just yet since they also need to re-sign William Nylander, whose deal will expire by the end of the season, leading him straight into free agency. God knows a few teams could use the services of a speedy and high-level threat offensive player.
However, the one case that generated lots of heated conversation is Mitch Marner. The forward was brought up on Eliotte Friedman's 32 Thoughts podcast as a singing priority for the Leafs'. Marner has entered the final two years of his current deal, during which he owns a full no-movement clause carrying a $10.9M AAV. The Leaf's best scorer in two of the last three seasons will be 27 when inking his new deal, and in his career prime, and according to Friedman, he's going to be asking for just as much:
The Leafs have found themselves in a tough spot. Three of their four best forwards are or will soon be in need of a new deal, and they've just taken a big risk signing Matthews to that much money without fully knowing what to expect with the salary cap.
