Matthews contract could help Maple Leafs keep Marner

TORONTO -- When the Toronto Maple Leafs were wooing unrestricted free agent John Tavares in the offseason, Auston Matthews phoned him with a personal pitch.

Come to Toronto, Matthews said, and envision the 1-2 punch we can produce up the middle. The veteran center, who played his first nine NHL seasons with the New York Islanders, heeded the advice and signed a seven-year, $77 million contract July 1 for a variety of reasons, including the chance to win a Stanley Cup in his hometown.
Tavares will have the 21-year-old helping him reach that goal for at least five more seasons. Matthews signed a five-year, $58.17 million contract with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, seven months after Tavares came on board. Together they form a formidable offensive spine for a team that hasn't been shy about its championship aspirations.
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Matthews and his handlers could have easily continued to ask for the maximum eight-year contract length, like the deals Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel have. But a shorter term means less of an NHL salary cap charge, which in the case of Matthews is $11.634 million, the average annual value of his contract.
If both Matthews and the Maple Leafs wanted to keep the core of the band together, this is the route they needed to take.
"We understand the cap restraints that we have and that every single team in the League has," said Matthews, who could have become a restricted free agent July 1. "We went through everything from three to eight (years) and we kind of settled on five, and I think both sides are happy to get this over with and move on."

The contract means that Tavares and Matthews are locked up together through the 2023-24 season. Now comes the hard part.
Forward Mitchell Marner, Toronto's leading scorer (63 points; 20 goals, 43 assists), can become a restricted free agent July 1. Marner's agent, Darren Ferris, said the Matthews signing will not alter his stance of waiting to negotiate until the end of the season.
"Our thought process has not changed on that," Ferris said in a phone interview Tuesday. "We want Mitch focusing on the season. We don't want any off-ice distractions."
Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said he remains confident that an agreement can be reached, even if talks are delayed until the spring.
"For us, if they want to talk, we're here," Dubas said. "But we're respecting their wishes. And I would expect everyone else would as well with how they handle Mitch. When they're ready to sit down, we'll talk.
"He's going to be a Toronto Maple Leaf for a long time regardless how we have to come to that. It's no issue at all."

Dubas said he believes he can make the numbers work in Toronto's favor to sign Marner. Since he took over for Lou Lamoriello in May, the Maple Leafs have landed Tavares, re-signed forwards Matthews and William Nylander, and traded for defenseman Jake Muzzin, who has three points in three games (one goal, two assists) since being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 28.
The Marner situation aside, the Maple Leafs have other key players locked up not named Tavares or Matthews. Goalie Frederik Andersen is signed through 2020-21, defenseman Morgan Rielly and center Nazem Kadri through 2021-22, and Nylander through 2023-24.
"I think they're all important," Dubas said. "We've got a number of very important players here to our program, and starting with John signing in the summer, and even go back a few years to Morgan, [Kadri], trading for Freddie, Patrick Marleau signing here, then John, then William's deal."
The Nylander situation was the messiest of all to date. The restricted free agent signed a six-year contract with an average annual value of $6.9 million Dec. 1, missing the first 28 games.

"They're all pieces of the puzzle that have to fit," Dubas said.
Tavares and Matthews have done exactly that thus far. Now they'll have to see if that's enough to bring Toronto its first championship since 1967.
"We have so many special players," Matthews said. "We want to build a championship team here in Toronto that will make the city proud. That starts with all of us in the locker room.
"I want to be here for a long time. All the guys here want to win, make the city proud, give them what they deserve, and that's the Stanley Cup."