Former unrestricted free agent McCabe now has long-term contracts in Toronto, joining fellow defensemen Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
For the foreseeable future, the Maple Leafs’ defense core is tied up.
Veteran Jake McCabe agreed to a five-year contract extension on Monday. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman claims that the 31-year-old McCabe will reduce his salary-cap cost from $4.7 million to $4.51 million per season by deferring $5.5 million (U.S.) between the second and third years. According to reports, the agreement also includes signing incentives of $5.225 million, $4.5 million, $3.8 million, and $1 million for the first four years.
Talks started during the summer, McCabe told reporters in Winnipeg, adding, “It is incredibly exciting for me and my family.” “It is really fantastic for us to be able to sign on for another five years since we have cherished our time in Toronto.”
After this season, McCabe might have tried out unrestricted free agency, but he now has long-term contracts on the Toronto blue line, joining Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. While Ekman-Larsson’s contract expires in 2028, McCabe, Rielly, and Tanev’s are contracted through 2030.
Just before the 2023 trade deadline, the Leafs acquired McCabe, forward Sam Lafferty, and two conditional fifth-round draft picks from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forwards Pavel Gogolev and Joey Anderson as well as first- and second-round picks. The Blackhawks decided to keep half of the remaining pay in exchange for McCabe, who came with two seasons left on a four-year contract worth $4 million per season.
This season, McCabe started on the second pair with Ekman-Larsson, but he is currently used with Tanev on a shutdown unit against the top lines of the opposition.
On the six-foot-one, 212-pound McCabe, Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters in Winnipeg, “He is a team-first player, hard defender, hard to play against.” “You want a defenseman like him on your squad.”
