Maple Leafs sign star centre Auston Matthews to four-year, $53-million extension

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed star centre Auston Matthews to a four-year deal, US$53-million contract extension.
The deal carries an average annual value of $13.5 million, which will make Matthews the league’s highest-paid player beginning in 2024-25, surpassing Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 AAV.
Matthews has one season left on his current contract — a five-year, $58.2-million pact signed in February 2019 — that could have walked him into un