It’s time for another round of NHL rumours. The Toronto Maple Leafs remain busy this offseason. They have reportedly shown interest in signing an extension with defenceman Jake McCabe. This McCabe extension rumour was shared by Elliotte Friedman on “32 Thoughts,” with new co-host Kyle Bukauskas.
32 Thoughts Friday news & information podcast. We go through every team. Lotsa tidbits. Great editing work from @CamJBarra, pinch-hitting for Dom. Back next Friday, then returning to our regular Monday/Friday schedule.
Enjoy!https://t.co/io7Mr1RceU
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 6, 2024
Leafs Discuss Extension With McCabe
Right now, in Leaf Land, there’s Mitch Marner‘s contract situation and Nicholas Robertson‘s trade request. Now, it looks like there’s a new task added to the to-do list of general manager Brad Treliving. Friedman reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast that he believes that there have been discussions of a McCabe extension with the Maple Leafs.
“I don’t know where this is going to go, but I do believe they’ve had some conversations about extending McCabe,” Friedman said.
McCabe is heading into the final year of his four-year contract. In 2021, he was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks to a four-year deal at $4M AAV. The extension talks with McCabe are in the very early stages. There are no details regarding the length or salary that this new contract may entail. Although, it can be assumed that it is more than what the Maple Leafs are currently paying him. Former GM of the Maple Leafs, Kyle Dubas, acquired McCabe in a trade with the Blackhawks, among other assets. In that trade, Chicago retained 50 percent of McCabe’s contract, which comes to only $2M against Toronto’s cap. However, with the season McCabe just had, and potentially another great campaign, the price to extend him will be much higher than that.
Analyzing McCabe’s Tenure in Toronto So Far
Since being added to the Maple Leafs, McCabe has been really important to the club. He’s a very tough defenceman who can do a little bit of everything. He is known for his defensive abilities and physicality. However, he can also chip in offensively, and he has last season to prove that. The 30-year-old had a career-year last season, recording a personal-best in almost every category. He hit a career-high in goals, assists, points, plus-minus, even penalty minutes. He was also just three seconds a game shy of equalling his career-high in time on ice back from 2016-17. So, it’s no surprise that the Maple Leafs are interested in signing a McCabe extension. He’s extremely reliable and a player like him is hard to find in this league.
The defenceman proved his reliability in the playoffs, recording a career-high in ice time with over 21 minutes a game. That’s more ice time he’s averaged than any regular season he’s played in. He also scored a big goal for Toronto in that series against the Boston Bruins, converting a slap shot from the point to open the scoring in Game 5. For most of those playoffs he was paired up with Simon Benoit, and there’s a good chance those two lineup together again next season. For the Leafs, that’s the type of pairing that can provide the reliability they seek, if they want to go deep in the playoffs.
Main Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
