Maple Leafs' Jake McCabe inks $20.5 million contract extension with deferred money

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Jake McCabe to a five-year extension on Monday. The deal keeps the defender in Toronto through 2030. He was acquired by the Maple Leafs in a 2023 trade deadline move and has been there ever since. According to Chris Johnston of TSN, this deal includes deferred money that helps the team’s salary cap for the duration of the team.

“Jake McCabe’s extension with the Leafs includes some deferred money, which lowered the cap hit to $4.51M. Fair to say he left some money on the table here.”

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the deal would be worth $4.7 million if not for the deferred money. This is not the first example of this, as Seth Jarvis’ extension with the Hurricanes also had deferred money. The move helps the Maple Leafs save some money in the interim while keeping a Cup contender intact.

Deferred money has been a part of sports for decades, as the Mets celebrated Bobby Bonilla Day for decades after his term in Queens ended. It came back in a big way with Shohei Ohtani in December, who deferred almost all of his $700 million contract to help the Dodgers build a champion. This is not that kind of move but could lead to a similar move down the line.

Maple Leafs can keep the band together with deferred contracts

The Maple Leafs have a great forward unit but a poor defensive squad that has harmed them in the playoffs. Trading for McCabe and now keeping him long-term helps build their blue line for the future. Two big decisions are coming on forwards John Tavares and Mitch Marner and deferring money might come back.

Tavares was signed for $11 million in 2018 to be the hometown veteran they needed. He helped usher Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Marner to stardom. Now, his contract is expiring and they could use that money to improve their defense and goaltending. If they want to keep the Toronto native, they could use deferred money to keep him.

Marner will likely be the higher priority than Tavares because of his age. He and Matthews have built great chemistry and will be the stars of the franchise for years to come. While the salary cap is hard to manage, Brad Treliving can keep them all together by using this deferred money trick.

The Maple Leafs are looking to keep their band together and started by signing Jake McCabe to a five-year deal.