Insider: Maple Leafs Have Begun Extension Talks With $16 Million Defenseman

Getty Toronto Maple Leafs talking about an extension with Jake McCabe.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had preliminary contract extension talks with defenseman Jake McCabe, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.

Speaking on his 32 Thoughts The Podcast on September 6, Friedman was asked about the Maple Leafs. One of the talking points that Friedman brought up was McCabe’s future as he’s entering the final year of his four-year $16 million defenseman.

According to Friedman, contract talks have started, but the insider isn’t sure if it will get done anytime soon.

“I believe they’ve had some conversation with Jake McCabe about extending him,” Friedman said. “I’m a big McCabe fan. I think he’s perfect for them. I think he’s exactly the kind of player they need, I don’t know where this is going to go. But, I do believe they’ve had some conversations about extending McCabe. We’ll see.”

Toronto acquired McCabe on February 27, 2023, from the Chicago Blackhawks, along with forward Sam Lafferty and two future conditional picks in exchange for Toronto’s conditional first-round pick in 2025, Toronto’s second-round pick in 2026, Joey Anderson, and Pavel Gogolev

McCabe is a defensive defenseman who is on the Maple Leafs’ third-pairing but can move up to the second-pairing late in games and in the playoffs.

Last season with Toronto, McCabe skated in 73 games recording 8 goals and 20 assists for 28 points. In the playoffs, he added 1 goal in 7 playoff games.

McCabe Changes Agent

With McCabe entering the final year of his deal, the defenseman made a significant change.

McCabe left Forward Hockey to join Bartlett Hockey, who announced the move on social media. Why the defenseman decided to change agencies is uncertain.

But, the 30-year-old made the move in June as McCabe was eligible to sign an extension as of July 1.

McCabe has skated in 577 NHL games recording 33 goals and 119 assists for 152 points.

Maple Leafs GM Hints at More Moves

NHL training camps are set to open up in the middle of September, which means most NHL’s rosters are set.

However, the Maple Leafs have been linked to some veteran players, potentially on professional tryouts. Ahead of training camps opening, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has hinted at the team making more moves.

“To me, we’ve still got five weeks or so till camp. And, you know, we’re not set yet. We continue to look at ways to make our team better,” Treliving said on OverDrive on TSN 1050. “I said at the end of the year we’re going to look at everything.

“Sometimes people fall in love with ‘ ‘let’s make a big change just to make a big change’. At the end of the day, you can go out and make big changes,” Treliving added. “If they’re not making your team better, to me it doesn’t make any sense to just make a change just to stand up and say ‘look at it, we made this big change.'”

The Maple Leafs have just over $1.2 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia, which is enough to add one more NHL player.

Toronto will open its 2024-25 NHL season on the road on October 9 against the Montreal Canadiens.