Instant Analysis: Maple Leafs lock up Jake McCabe to five-year, $4.51 million AAV contract extension

Jake McCabe, Maple Leafs vs. SharksThe Toronto Maple Leafs and Jake McCabe have agreed to a five-year, $23.5 million contract extension worth $4.51 million per season against the cap.

The Leafs are taking advantage of the deferred compensation structure — which is becoming more common in the league — whereby Jake McCabe will collect bonus money at the end of his contract, thus lowering the cap hit from the face value of $4.7 million AAV to $4.51 million annually against the cap books. Here is Bob McKenzie’s explanation on deferred bonus payments and their benefits for both the team (cap-wise) and player (tax-wise), for the uninitiated:

Something to keep an eye on today is whether some NHL…