Unique demands from Auston Matthews may complicate contract negotiations.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and general manager Kyle Dubas already have a heaping helping of contract negotiations on their plate at this time due to their ongoing contract dispute with forward William Nylander but that may not be the only contract negotiation that Dubas is having to juggle at this time. 

All of the focus has been on William Nylander and there is good reason for that, the 22 year old center currently remains a restricted free agent without a contract. That status has prevented him from participating in any of Toronto's first 6 games of the season and, although the Leafs have an impressive record of 5 wins and 1 loss over that stretch, there have been no signs that he will be returning to action any time soon. 

One of the things that has seriously complicated the issue from the Maple Leafs' perspective has been the fact that the Maple Leafs also have to think about the contracts of Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews as well moving forward. I have no doubt that Kyle Dubas would love to give Nylander whatever he asks for in the negotiation but the reality is that he is third most important player on that short list with Matthews being the lynch pin and Marner being the Leafs number 2 priority. 

What is particularly interesting now however is that talk has begun to circulate suggesting that Matthews may have some very interesting, and frankly unique, demands when it comes to his next contract. In a recent article publish for Sportsnet, National Hockey League insider Chris Johnston hinted at the fact that Matthews may not be seeking a mega max deal like the ones signed by players like Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. You see both Eichel and McDavid opted for security and took the big money over 8 years, a move that I believe I would make myself in that position, but Matthews may be so confident in his own game that he sees that type of deal as a negative and not a positive.

Johnston touched on the fact that his colleague at Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman, has heard rumblings that Matthews may be looking to sign for less term in order to quickly reach the 3rd contract of his NHL career and sign for max money at that stage of his career rather than now.

From Johnston's report:

My eyebrows were certainly raised when he slyly mentioned that Toronto’s current push to sign Auston Matthews could see him sign a five-year extension, rather than the industry standard of eight. Ummm, excuse me?

The debate about whether a star player would be better off insisting on a shorter term for his second contract has been quietly waged among agents, NHL executives and media types in barroom’s around the continent. It hinges on the idea that he would set himself up for an even greater payday on Deal 3 while still in possession of elite production and mega leverage in a league skewing ever younger.

A shorter deal would mean a lower overall cap hit over the course of the 5 year deal and that could potentially even help the Leafs squeeze Nylander and Marner under the cap if he were to go in that direction. Of course in the long term it could end up costing the Leafs significantly more money but money has never been an issue for the Leafs' organization.

It's going to be very interesting to see how this now plays out.