3 days ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed franchise cornerstone Auston Matthews to 4 year extension that kicks in after next season. Leafs general manager Brad Treliving made it a priority to sign Matthews as soon as possible, but it wouldn't have happened right now if Matthews didn't push for it to get done.
According to Luke Fox of Sportsnet, who sat down with Brad Treliving, the reason the contract was signed before the upcoming season was because this is what Matthews wanted; take a look.
Evidently, the Leafs and Matthews were on the same page in wanting a deal signed before next season, but it didn't have to be that way. Look at William Nylander, he's comfortable waiting to sign a contract, but the urgency from Matthews vs the approach of Nylander are very different.
In fact, this sounds like a shot at Nylander a little bit. One star player sees the importance of making sure he's here for a long time, not wanting to cause any distractions for the team in season, while the other doesn't see the importance signing a contract in the off-season.
