Maple Leafs and superstar forward Matthews agree to four-year contract extension

The Toronto Maple Leafs and superstar center Auston Matthews agreed on a four-year, $53 million contract extension on Wednesday, making him the NHL’s highest-paid player.

Matthews has one year remaining on the five-year, $58.2 million pact he signed in February 2019, and he could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

With an average annual value of $13.25 million, Matthews will become the NHL’s highest-paid player beginning in 2024-25, surpassing Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 million annual average value.

The 25-year-old Matthews has been one of the game’s elite players since he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2016 draft.

He led the league in goals twice (2020-21 and 2021-22) and has totaled 299 goals and 542 points in 481 regular season games.

Matthews’ best season came in 2021-22, when he set career highs with 60 goals and 106 points in 73 games, earning him the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP.

He dipped to 40 goals last season but still tallied 85 points in 74 games.

The native of Scottsdale, Arizona leads all players in goals since the start of the 2016-17 season and ranks 11th in points during that span.

The Maple Leafs have reached the playoffs in every full season since Matthews entered the league but have advanced past the first round only once – defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in a six-game series last spring.