Leafs, Matthews to continue contract extension talks this week

It seems like no one is escaping from contract negotiation talk anytime soon. The Leafs and Matthews are expected to talk about his upcoming contract extension this week, per Elliotte Friedman.

On the Saturday Headlines segment this week, Friedman brought up the point that the two sides will be discussing the extension in the upcoming days.

“Big week for the Toronto Maple Leafs – the team and Auston Matthews’ representation are going to sit down and try to work out and get a contract extension done,” Friedman said on Saturday Headlines.

Other details included the exact contract that Matthews might sign before the Feb. 25 trade deadline.

“Initially, both sides wanted eight years, it’s just not going to work – the number is going to be too high. The team would have to be broken up. So, it’s going to come down to five or six years,” Friedman said.

He also mentioned that the cap hit would “not be too far away” from Connor McDavid’s $12.5M AAV. Meaning somewhere in the range of $11-12M per year for 5-6 years is the best assumption.

Matthews currently has 23 goals and 23 assists in just 37 games this season, leading the team in points-per-game.

With Mitch Marner also coming to be an RFA this summer, Dubas and co. would gladly have this major negotiation out of the way soon.