Auston Matthew Extends His Contract with Maple Leafs

    Auston Matthews has signed a new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs that will keep him in Ontario for another five years. The California-born centre inked a new deal worth an average of $11.63 million per year, although he’ll receive the biggest portion of that sum through signing bonuses.

    In his first announcement following the contract extension, Matthews said it was a special day for both him and his family, and pointed out it was very special to play in a city that loved hockey so much.

    Toronto Maple Leafs

    Toronto Maple Leafs jersey in an ice block in front the Molson center of Montreal Canadians for the 57e All stars game on January 24 2009 in Montreal Canada – meunierd / Shutterstock.com

    Matthews said he would always feel the pressure for fans in Toronto who wanted a championship, and pointed out they wanted to give it to them, as the city deserved it.

    Commenting on the team, Matthews stated it was full of talented players, who would give their best to achieve the goal of lifting the Stanley Cup trophy.

    A Great Prospect for the Future

    Matthews also revealed certain details regarding the negotiations, and said that his representative and Maple Leafs’ general manager Kyle Dubas spoke about a contract that ranged u to 8 years. In the end, he was more than happy to stay in Toronto, where he had been playing since 2016.

    He said he was thrilled with the whole atmosphere in the city, that he loved his teammates, management, fans, everyone who supported the team.

    He is the fourth best scorer on the team, with 23 goals and the same number of assists, while his injury forced him to miss out on 14 of 52 games in the regular part of the season. Only one player among those who played a minimum of 50 games scored more goals per game than Matthews since the American became a member of the team. That’s the Russian left winger Alex Ovechkin, also known as the Great Eight.

    An Excellent Deal for the Leafs

    Kyle Dubas was excited the team succeeded in negotiating a new deal with Matthews. He regarded him as a player of tremendous potential, whose scoring skills only few players in the NHL could match. He stated Matthews was capable of great deeds and stressed the team would help him reach his full potential in the coming years.

    The former NHL Rookie of the Year scored played a total of 182 regular games for his team, with 97 goals and 81 assists on his count.

    Matthews was born in California, but grew in Arizona. Before arriving in Canada, he spent a season playing for ZSC Lions in Switzerland.