Auston Matthews set to make a staggering amount of money in just signing bonuses

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Mike Armenti
August 24, 2023 (9:33)

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Yesterday, Auston Matthews set the internet and the hockey world on fire when signing a 4 year $13.25-million-dollar contract extension and broke the news himself on social media moments before the official announcement came out from the team. The deal ensures that he's a member of the Maple Leafs for the foreseeable future, but many questioned how the contract was structured.

According to Chris Johnston of TSN, the lion's share of Matthews' new deal will be paid out in signing bonuses. Here's the breakdown:

The Auston Matthews extension will be paid almost entirely in signing bonuses with nearly $50M of the $53M contract coming that way.

That includes a $15.925M bonus payment when the contract officially kicks in next July.

The $15.925M signing bonus in the first year of Matthews' new deal will be the biggest bonus in NHL history. This does a couple of different things. It means Matthews pays less taxes on his money and should the Leafs decide to move on from Matthews at any point (they won't) because the deal is front loaded with most of the money in bonus and not in salary, it'll be a little easier to do so.

Not only does this deal set the market for the next crop of free agents, but and this will make a lot of people groan, Matthews is absolutely worth the money he got. Not only does he have the most goals of any player since he entered the league in 2016-17 with 299 (that's two more than Ovechkin) but he plays a premium position and he blocks shots like no other forward. Not to mention, Matthews had 85 points and 40 goes while admitting he played the entire year with a wrist injury. He's worth the money.