Former Leaf and current radio personality reveals that a Matthews/Leafs extension is close

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Mike Armenti
August 1, 2023 (12:14)

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As of July 1st, Auston Matthews and William Nylander were both able to sign contract extensions with the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, a month later, there are still no deals in place. Trouble in paradise? According to one former Leaf, no, there's no issue regarding Auston Matthews, whom he expects will put pen to paper "any day now".

For weeks, we have heard that we may not see a Matthews deal announced until after the Nylander contract extension is completed. Multiple credible sources have indicated recently that the Leafs want to get Nylander signed before announcing a Matthews extension to avoid the Nylander camp increasing their ask from the $10M+ per season that they're currently seeking.

We know that Matthews was present at the Mitch Marner wedding this weekend, which means that he is in Toronto. While Nylander wasn't spotted in any photos at Marner's wedding, there have been reports that he attended the event as well.

Carlo Colaiacovo, an ex-Leafs defenseman and current TSN co-host and analyst on TSN 1050's First Up, dropped an interesting little nugget of information on the Matthews extension on this morning's program. Colaiacovo had mentioned that with Matthews in town, he believes that we'll see him sign very soon.

"My understanding is that an Auston Matthews deal is going to happen any day right now. Nobody knows the exact date, but the expectation is that it's happening. It's going to be anywhere between 3-5 years and it's going to range between $13M and $14M, depending on the term. It's going to happen any day - that's the only thing I know that's going on in Leaf land." - Colaiacovo on Matthews extension talks

It's going to be interesting to see whether or not this means that the Leafs will announce both extensions this week or if they'll do things out of order and announce Matthews first. There also exists the possibility that they'll just move on from Nylander if he is unwilling to budge on his contract ask, in excess of $10M per season on a long-term deal.