Leafs rank 8th in NHL in contract efficiency

The rankings, which factor in not only contract efficiency for current deals, but how teams will spend their future monies have the Leafs sitting 8th out of 32 teams; a huge increase from their rankings a year ago which was middle of the pack at 14th.

Here's the breakdown:

First things first, Auston Matthews' contract is a steal according to the article. The Leafs forward's new contract kicks in this year which at a 4-year deal worth $53.2M seems like a vast underpayment for one of the premier players in the league. The mix of his play, contract structure should warrant a hefty chunk of the cap however Matthews' deal only accounts for 15% of the Leafs total cap. The Leafs' forward earned an A+ rating for his efforts.

Surprisingly, the second highest ranking for the Leafs goes to Bobby McMann. The young forward is coming off a year where he set career highs in goals (15), assists (9) and a +13 +/- and recently extended his deal to the tune of a 2-year, $2.7M extension. The AAV of $1.35M combined with McMann's breakout earned him the second highest spot with a B ranking.

The rest of the top 10 are as follows:

3. Mitch Marner - $10.9M x 1 (B-)

4. Pontus Holmberg - $800,000 x 1 (B-)

5. Calle Jarnkrok - $2.1M x 2 (C+)

6. Ryan Reaves - $1.4M x 2 (C+)

7. Max Domi - $3.8M x 4 (C)

8. John Tavares - $11M x 1 (C)

9. David Kampf - $2.5M x 3 (C-)

10. William Nylander - $11.5M x 8 (D)

In terms of defenders; Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren topped the list with a B+ ranking; his 2-year extension at 3M AAV alongside his untapped potential gives him the top spot; followed closely by Jake McCabe and Conor Timmins (B+ and B- respectively)

The defenseman rankings are as follows:

1. Timothy Liljegren - $3M x 2 (B+)

2. Jake McCabe - $2M x 1 (B+)

3. Conor Timmins -$1.1M x 1 (B-)

4. Morgan Rielly - $7.5M x 6 (B-)

5. Simon Benoit - $1.4M x 3 (C+)

6. Jani Hakanpaa - $1.5M x 2 (C+)

7. Chris Tanev - $4.5M x 6 (C)

8. Oliver Ekman-Larsson - $3.5M x 4 (C)

Tailing the bottom of the list are new signees Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It makes sense in the short term why the Leafs would sign these two veterans but for contracts in the yearly range of 4-6 years would see both players pushing 40 before the end of the deal and remains to be seen how the Leafs can dump these off if needed in the future.

Lastly, Joseph Woll resigning for $2.9M on a 4-year deal gets an A+ from Luszczyszyn due to his rise as the #1 netminder, mixed with his playoff performance and relatively cheap and team friendly deal.

It looks to be seen how the results play out on the ice, but at the very least, the Leafs have set themselves up for the future in a lot of good ways, and playing with fire with others.

Source: The Athletic
NHL contract efficiency rankings from the Athletic

Source: The Hockey News
Leafs rank 8th in contract efficiency from Athletic