In today’s NHL rumour rundown, we start with Mike Matheson and his five-year extension, which he took a big discount on to stay with the Montreal Canadiens. Next, we head to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and head coach Craig Berube, who is on the hot seat himself, is making some bold moves to wake his team up. Finally, the New York Rangers have their offensive dominance rolling, are they truly back?
Matheson Takes Significant Discount to Stick With Habs
For a top-pair defenseman who typically produces around 35 points, with a ceiling of 60 points, signing a five-year deal to take him to 37 years old makes perfect sense. For the Canadiens, when the salary starts with a six, that is a home run.
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AFP Analytics, who have an excellent cap projection model, projected Matheson to make over $7 million on his next deal, and that was a projection before the recent extensions that changed the overall landscape of contract extensions.
Marco D’Amico chimed in and said that in NHL circles, anything under $7.5 million annually could be considered a steal.
While there is a big divide on where his contract actually lands in terms of whether it is a good deal or not, D’Amico has made it clear that teams around the league love him, and he could have gotten upwards of $8 million on the open market.
With the salary cap rising dramatically, five years from now, $6 million, the salary Matheson actually got, will be a much lower percentage of the cap, and the team will be fine. Matheson brings a ton of value to the team.
Berube Scratching Key Players, Message Not Being Received
Usually when a coach scratches a player who isn’t traditionally a scratch on the team, it is to send a message.
Rewinding to the offseason, after the departure of Mitch Marner, wingers Matias Maccelli, Max Domi, and Dakota Joshua were all brought in to fill the void left by the superstar winger.
Well, in the past week, all three players have been healthy scratched at different times. Maccelli hasn’t been able to get anything going, and doesn’t look like he fits in with the team at all. Domi has been with the team for a few seasons now, and this has been his first healthy scratch. He hasn’t been good enough either, though the Maple Leafs and Berube have been putting him in positions where they have already established he doesn’t work well in.
For Joshua, while a middle-six spot was more fair of an expectation, he has also been disappointing. So now, two players the Leafs brought in to help, as well as Domi, are not working.
The million-dollar question now, is whether Brad Treliving should be to blame for acquiring players who don’t fit, or should Berube’s inability to get them on the same page be the reason? Either way, the 2025 offseason is looking like an all-time bad one for the Maple Leafs, and if things don’t turn around for the club, even with a vote of confidence from Treliving, could Berube be fired?
Rangers Offense Carrying Them Back to Contention
After missing the playoffs last year, seeing Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider traded, and a new coach, nobody really knew what to expect from the Rangers this season. They have enough talent to be in the mix for a playoff spot for sure, but they seemed like a lock last season, too.
They didn’t start the season well, at all. With no success at home early on, J.T Miller going viral for his lack of efforts, and uncertainty about Artemi Panarin’s future, there is a lot to worry about with the Rangers.
Fortunately, the offensive play has kicked into high gear and has been on fire over the last 10 games.
In that span, Panarin leads the way with 16 points, followed by Adam Fox at 14, and Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck at 10 each. Having the top players score is crucial, and the Rangers have a lot of those.
There are a lot of people curious to see which direction the Rangers take this season. They have a ton of assets they could move, but they also have a ton of assets that are going to help them content, should they add and go that way.
The offense from the top players may be enough for Chris Drury and the rest of the management team to reward the players and add.
The Rangers currently sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division, though sit just two points out of second. It is a close, competitive division.
