Jake McCabe
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs re-signed one of their pending UFAs, Jake McCabe.
The team announced McCabe agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $4.51 million per year. The defenseman is currently in the final season of a four-year contract with an average annual value of $4 million, which he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021. His new deal keeps him under contract through 2029-30.
Jake McSIGNED ✍️ pic.twitter.com/7qy7FMCoSD
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 28, 2024
McCabe, 31, joined the Leafs before the trade deadline in 2023. Chicago traded him, Sam Lafferty and two conditional fifth-round draft picks for Joey Anderson, Pavel Gogolev, a conditional first-round pick in 2025 and a second-round pick in 2026.
Since then, McCabe put up five points in 21 games to finish 2022-23, 28 points in 73 games last season and three points in nine games to begin this campaign. He’s also recorded the most hits among Leafs players in the past three seasons combined, with 279, and 182 blocked shots in that same span. So far this season, McCabe is averaging 21:09 of ice time.
McCabe changed representation in June to Bartlett Hockey. His new cap hit is $100,000 more than off-season defense acquisition Chris Tanev, whose deal also runs through 2030.
Related: Toronto Maple Leafs Must Fix Inconsistencies After Another Disappointing Loss
The Leafs’ Remaining Pending Free Agents
With McCabe signed, Toronto now has seven pending UFAs on the NHL roster, including two members of the Core Four, John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
Max Pacioretty, Steven Lorentz, Philippe Myers, Jani Hakanpaa and Dakota Mermis signed one-year contracts and are eligible to sign an extension in 2025.
As for pending RFAs, the Leafs have Matthew Knies, Connor Dewar, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg and Conor Timmins on expiring contracts.
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