On Wednesday, Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli made a VERY bold prediction about Matthews' next contract. Seravalli stated that he believes that Matthews will indeed re-up with the Leafs. He predicted that Matthews would surpass Nathan MacKinnon's $12.6M AAV and become the highest paid player in NHL history. So how much higher will Matthews go above Mack's $12.6M? Well, Seravalli predicted a $16.7M AAV, the league's projected maximum salary, over the max term 8 years.
Now, obviously, it's just a bold prediction and may not actually happen. If Matthews decides that winning is more important than money, we may just see him land in the $13M-$14M AAV range. However, it's not outside of the realm of possibility that the Leafs do opt to make him the NHL's first ever max contract.
As Seravalli pointed out in his prediction, Brad Richards signed a max value contract in 2006, but his deal was not for the maximum term at just 5 years.
POLL | ||
5 OCTOBRE | 407 ANSWERS Insider makes a very bold prediction regarding Auston Matthews Will Auston Matthews be the NHL's first player to ever sign a max contract?? | ||
Yes | 211 | 51.8 % |
No | 80 | 19.7 % |
He's worth it, but he'll sign for less | 116 | 28.5 % |
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