"When it comes to [Auston] Matthews... he's gonna be the highest paid player in the league. That's gonna happen... The Leafs are aware of that. The Leafs know that. He's going to get the highest cap hit in the league. The highest cap hit right now is $12.6M. Nathan MacKinnon's got it. Matthews is up, it's gonna be $12.7M per year, plus. Like, that's what's coming. Whether it's a 3-year deal, 5-year deal, 7, 8-year deal.. there will be negotiating, there will be haggling there, but Matthews knows exactly what's going to be there. He's going to get a full no-move, full no-trade, a crazy amount of signing bonus money and he's going to be the highest paid player in the league. It's already going to happen and everyone knows it and the Leafs wants that to happen. Matthews, I'm sure, will be seeking that out, so it's about trying to draw a line in the sand for pushing it that much further and pushing back and being adamant that it's in the best interest of everyone, including Auston if he wants to be here, for it to be a 7 or 8-year deal if possible and for it to be closer to $12.7M per year than to $14M or $14.5M, $15M or whatever. That's where the Leafs have got to put their stake in the ground."