Kristen Shiltonjun29, 2025, 06:16 PM ET
Closekristen Shilton is ESPN’s national NHL reporter.
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to look after Matthew Neehs as they moved forward on a six-year extension Sunday, which averaged an annual amount of $7.75 million. Sources confirmed ESPN’s Emily Kaplan for details, and Nice later posted news of the extension on social media.
The Phoenix native was a pending restricted free agent. The long-term contract secures one of the top line skaters in the franchise last season, as well as the future integral members of that forward group. Also, if Toronto becomes a restricted free agent on Tuesday, they can avoid concerns about the offer sheet being presented for the knee.
The signature shows the desire for general manager Brad Trelelibing to keep as many pending free agents as possible, locking up top six center John Tavares on a four-year contract that includes an average annual amount of four years over the weekend.
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The 22-year-old needs are out of the breakout campaign. He mainly skated at the team’s top line, with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Neese earned 29 goals and 58 points in 78 games, and contributed to the club’s top power play unit on the ice, averaging 18:31, and was a key figure in the penalty kill. Needs added five more goals (second in the leaves) and seven points in 13 playoff contests. He became the only leaf spray player of the season to score 29 goals and 180 hits.
Given the age of his knee, the six-year agreement should give Toronto his best year. And keeping him folded will help minimize the expected fallout from Marner’s almost certain departure, via free agency or sign-and-trade scenarios.
