{"id":45743,"date":"2025-08-05T16:42:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/45743\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T16:42:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:42:16","slug":"nhl-news-amid-trade-buzz-surrounding-defensemen-auston-matthews-maple-leafs-ink-promising-youngster-to-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/45743\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL News: Amid trade buzz surrounding defensemen, Auston Matthews’ Maple Leafs ink promising youngster to extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs are involved in every trade rumor around the NHL. However, the organization in The Six is not losing sight of what\u2019s truly important. On that note, the Buds re-signed a key prospect in the system, who could make the jump into Auston Matthews<\/a>\u2018 lineup.<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs<\/a> know they have their work cut out for them in the 2025-26 NHL season. After the recent misstep in the postseason and the summer drama, there\u2019s only one way to ease the tension in Hogtown. But first, Toronto must put the final pieces together to their roster. On that note, the latest signing could play a pivotal role.<\/p>\n

As the Maple Leafs announced, defenseman William Villaneuve has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the franchise. Villaneuve has yet to make his NHL<\/a> debut. Still, after a strong year with the AHL\u2019s Toronto Marlies, he could be set to make the jump onto the lineup led by Matthews.<\/p>\n

Making his case<\/p>\n

Villeneuve recorded 40 points (4 goals, 36 assists) in 55 games during the 2024\u201325 AHL season. The former fourth-round pick in 2020 led all defensemen in points and ranked fourth overall in total tallies. <\/p>\n

\"Auston<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs heads to practice prior to playing against the Buffalo Sabres during the 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Tim Hortons Field on March 12, 2022 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n

At the moment, the Buds appear set on the blueline, but they never know when they might need to call up reinforcements from the Marlies. If a need arises on defense, Villeneuve stands as the frontrunner for a promotion to the big leagues.<\/p>\n

\"NHL<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

NHL News: One-for-one trade offer simply won\u2019t cut it for Auston Matthews\u2019 Maple Leafs in pursuit of half-hearted talent, reports state<\/p>\n

<\/a>Who could be on the move?<\/p>\n

Toronto isn\u2019t exactly swimming in cap space, but there\u2019s enough room to maneuver. However, if the Buds want to make big moves during the NHL campaign, they\u2019ll likely need to part ways with key veterans. Most fingers point to blueliners Brandon Carlo and Morgan Rielly. <\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s a catch\u2014and there seemingly always is when it comes to Matthews\u2019 Leafs. Both Carlo and Rielly have some form of job security built into their contracts. Carlo has two years remaining on his deal, which includes a modified no-trade clause (M-NTC) with an eight-team no-trade list. There is, however, a slim silver lining for Toronto: the Boston Bruins retain 15% of Carlo\u2019s $4.1 million cap hit.<\/p>\n

SurveyWho will be the best defenseman in Toronto next season?<\/p>\n

Who will be the best defenseman in Toronto next season?<\/p>\n

Rielly, on the other hand, is under contract for the next five years with a $7.5 million AAV deal that includes a full no-movement clause (NMC). Therefore, for the Leafs to move either blueliner in an effort to clear cap space, they\u2019d need to convince the players to waive their clauses. In Carlo\u2019s case, that would mean trading him to one of the 23 teams he\u2019s approved to be dealt to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Maple Leafs are involved in every trade rumor around the NHL. However, the organization in The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,2368,63,575,85,2370],"class_list":["post-45743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-auston-matthews","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}