The Toronto Maple Leafs signed star center Auston Matthews to a four-year deal, $53 million contract extension. The deal carries an average annual value of $13.5 million, which will make Matthews the league’s highest-paid player beginning in 2024-25, surpassing Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 AAV. Matthews has one season left on his current contract — a five-year, $58.2 million pact signed in February 2019 — that could have walked him into unrestricted free agency next summer.
Leafs give star center Mathews an extension
