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The Toronto Maple Leafs have long been rumored to have interest in getting veteran defenseman Jake McCabe extended past this season, going back to last April when Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that there was mutual interest in getting a deal done.

On Monday, the club announced that McCabe agreed to a five-year, $22.566 million contract (starting in 2025-26), with an average annual value of the contract is $4.51 million.

The 31-year-old was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in February 2023 along with Sam Lafferty for the Leafs 2025 first round pick, and posted 28 points (8 goals, 20 assists) in 73 games last season.

An intriguing aspect of the deal is that there is over $1 million in deferred money in the contract, which lowers the AAV from $4.7 million to $4.51 million. While that amount would not appear to be significant, it may be a pathway that the Leafs use in future contracts to mitigate their lack of cap space because of the big contracts of Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Toronto will complete their mini two-game road trip in Winnipeg on Monday against the defeated Jets. Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the start, according to David Alter of the Hockey News, and based on the line combinations at the morning skate, Nick Robertson will be an extra, with Pontus Holmberg slotting in on the right wing with Bobby McMann and Max Domi. Max Pacioretty will move up to the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander, and Conor Timmins will step in on the bottom-pairing rotation with Simon Benoit.

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