The price of keeping Auston Matthews in Toronto went up overnight

With Leo Carlsson's offer sheet now making him the most expensive NHL player, that means the cost of Auston Matthews in Toronto has skyrocketed.

The Philadelphia Flyers blew the roof off the NHL when they offered Leo Carlsson a five-year, $90-million offer sheet that would see him making $18-million per season. It's a staggering deal that if Anaheim matches will end up handicapping them from signing other RFA's such as Pavel Mintyukov and Cutter Gauthier.

If they don't match it, the Flyers get one of the brightest young stars in the NHL and effectively turn the tides for any other teams who want to bring in a superstar. If you have the money and you can push a team against the wall, why not see what you can walk away with?

But beyond RFA's signing offer sheets, this is also going to affect the top stars as they look for new contracts. No doubt Connor McDavid is going to want a huge increase, and Jason Robertson rejected a $15-million per year deal from Seattle; so clearly the price is going to only go up.

Friedman says every star will now point at $18 million and ask for more

For the Maple Leafs, they don't necessarily have the room to spend on an offer sheet but Carlsson's new contract is going to crate a lot of issues when Auston Matthews' new deal needs to be signed.

And Elliotte Friedman basically pointed to the fact that if an unproven and young Carlsson can get that amount of money - the other top stars want a cut of the cake:

I believe only once in the cap era has a player in his fourth season had the highest salary in the league. That was Mitch Marner, $16 million in 2019-20. Including his bonus, Carlsson will be at $21 million next season. That's gobsmacking.

Now the top players will point to Carlsson and say, 'I should be above that.' Those with comparable numbers at the same age will say, 'I should be above that.'

No kidding. Right now, Carlsson is going to rank higher than players such as Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Kirill Kaprizov, and Nathan MacKinnon which when you compare to a player who has only 200 career games and solid but not mind-blowing numbers - is apples to oranges.

So of course you are going to see players like Matthews and McDavid ask for heavy increases given their extensive accolades and that spells trouble for their respective teams.

Toronto's Matthews math changed before they ever get to the table

The Maple Leafs aren't exactly going to be in a favourable position come 2028. Not only does that rising salary cap already mean Matthews is going to look for more money, but with Carlsson's gigantic increase then we're going to see some serious back and forth.

What's to stop Matthews - a player with an MVP and several other accolades to his name - from asking for $20-million or more a season? Even on a short-term deal you're still looking at $60-million for only a three year deal, and if you were to give him the Carlsson length then it's going to be $100-million.

That's a huge commitment and though the team has done a lot to improve their chances of winning before that contract comes up (to give Matthews reason to stay and maybe a bit of a discount); nothing's guaranteed.

He hasn't asked for a huge pay raise nor has he brought up any extension talks but you have to think this decision is weighing on his mind especially since he knows other teams around the league may be willing to pay even more than $20-million and less of a spotlight.

It's going to be imperative that the Maple Leafs do whatever they can to win in the next two seasons because not only is it the best way to keep Auston Matthews in town, but it may be the only way to do so without paying through the nose.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Toronto kept the Marlies playoff standout who is glued to Easton Cowan's hip