The LeBron James of NHL? Auston Matthews' contract extension prompts Elliotte Friedman to compare superstars' record deals

Auston Matthews' new contract has made waves across the NHL. His new $53 million contract is now the highest in the league. Many are still looking at the Average Annual Value of $13.25 million with awe and wonder. This contract being a four-year one also has raised eyebrows. It has made many compare it to NBA contracts.

Journalist Elliotte Friedman compared Auston Matthews' contract to Lebron James' on his podcast, 32 Thoughts:

"Highest AAV. One of the things about Matthews, he is figuring it out. He consistently becomes better. I'm a Matthews fan, and he will only become better and better as he ages, but one of the things he will go down for in addition to whatever he does on the ice is he is going to change the way contracts are done in the NHL. This is normal in the NBA - short-term, big number. LeBron James has done it many times.

To give context, whenever LeBron James has signed with a new team, his contracts have always been short (mostly four years). He recently signed a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension through the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron really set the precedent for stars players to leave in FA and use shorter deals to hold the leverage. He left Cleveland twice, Miami, and potentially the Lakers when his contract is done.

But Friedman has illustrated one difference:

"The slight difference between NBA and NHL is I think the risk of injury in the NHL is going to be greater always. Even though it's not as physical a game as it used to be, it's still running around in a very confined space."

This is absolutely true as the league is, indeed, physical and the risk of injury is higher in hockey. While an NBA player has their own sets of difficuties, the NHL is a physical league with the schedule of the above.

Auston Matthews' career highlights

Auston Matthews

The franchise's cornerstone player, Auston Matthews, was selected first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He was motivated by athletes Shane Doan and Daniel Briere, and he displayed great performances throughout his career.

His NHL debut was nothing short of legendary; he scored four goals and had a significant effect right away. Auston Matthews received the Hart Trophy for being the league's Most Valuable Player during the 2021–2022 campaign. With this accomplishment, a Maple Leafs player won the prize for the first time in more than 60 years.

He has played in 481 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs, scoring 299 goals and dishing out 243 assists for a total of 542 points.