If the bruises, the black eye and the blood during their playoff push last season wasn’t enough to tell you that Jake McCabe was willing to lay it all on the line for the Toronto Maple Leafs, then his new contract signed on Monday could be a sign that he truly has the passion.
McCabe officially re-upped with the Maple Leafs on a five-year extension with an average annual value (AAV) of $4.51 million, the team announced. As seems to be the case with a number of deals signed recently, there is money deferred as part of the contract, according to Elliotte Friedman, between years two and three of the extension. By doing it, the AAV of the deal dropped from $4.7 million to the $4.51 million they agreed upon.
McCabe 5 year $23.5M #LeafsForever ext:
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 28, 2024
Yr 1 775K Base, 5.225M Signing Bonus
Yr 2 1M Base, 1.5M paid SB, 3M SB deferred to Year 6
Yr 3 1M Base, 1.3M paid SB, 2.5M SB deferred to Year 6
Yr 4 2.6M & 1M SB
Yr 5 3.6M
Cash paid 4.7M Average, Cap Hit (w/ deferrals) $4.51M
Yr 1/2 No…
Now, locked up for the next five years, the question is whether or not the Maple Leafs extended McCabe on a good contract for both player and team.
McCabe Deal Stacks Up With Offseason Defensive Market
This past offseason, defensemen were a premium — at least that’s what the dollar amounts being thrown around would suggest.
Victor Hedman signed for four years with and $8-million AAV. Jake Middleton at four years and an AAV of $4.35 million and J.J. Moser got two years at $3.375 million per season.
Even second-year players like Braden Schneider signed for two years at $2.2 million per season, while Brock Faber signed for eight years with an AAV of $8.5 million.
The fact is, money was thrown at defensemen this offseason and while some of those names contribute more to their respective teams at both ends of the ice than McCabe, their AAVs iron out to make McCabe’s new deal look pretty good for the Maple Leafs in the long run — especially with John Tavares’ $11 million coming off the books.
Consider this, the New York Rangers signed Ryan Lindgren to a one-year deal worth $4.5 million. Lindgren finished 2023-24 with three goals and 17 points in 76 games and while Lindgren is only 26 and that could influence the dollar amount, McCabe still posted 28 points and a plus-20 at the age of 30 last season for the Maple Leafs who had one of the lowest productions from their blue line in the NHL in 2023-24.
McCabe Earned Top-Four Money With Top-Four Minutes
As for where he ranks on the Maple Leafs, McCabe has been a consistent part of their top-four since coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks. During his tenure with the Maple Leafs, he has averaged just over 20 minutes per game against some tough competition.
In 103 games with the Maple Leafs, he has nine goals and 36 points, averaging 0.37 points per game, his highest with any team in his career.
Related: Maple Leafs Measuring Up Against Eastern Conference’s Best
On the team’s depth chart, McCabe slots in as their second next to Morgan Rielly and has slid into that top-four role in a way that has earn him some hard minutes down the stretch in his first couple of seasons with the team.
He’s been a reliable, go-to defenceman for both Sheldon Keefe and, now, Craig Berube. As such, the Maple Leafs are paying him as a top-four defenceman with the extension he signed. The deal, which kicks in next season, will see McCabe get a raise of just over $2.5 million per season and will make him the second highest paid defenceman on the team behind — you guessed it, Rielly.
As for what the Maple Leafs have locked up in their top-four next season, it’s not that outrageous. Rielly, McCabe, Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are all locked up through 2028 at a combined cap hit of just $19.6 million against a rising cap, according to Luke Fox.
While Rielly is the youngest of the four at 30 years old, having your core four defensive players locked up for under $20 million knowing that the cap is set to increase isn’t a bad place to be in, all things considered.
