While on the First Up show on TSN 1050, the former Leafs blueliner went so far as to say a deal for Matthews would be announced «any day now,» as it's essentially put to pen and paper.
Obviously, $13 to 14 million AAV is not exactly chump change in a salary cap NHL, and Leafs fans would surely rather have seen him signed to a deal closer to eight years in term. The giant price tag may also make it harder to keep the team under the cap, but it's a signing the Leafs needed to make.