Jake Muzzin confirms that he and the Leafs are 'close' to a new deal.

It sounds like the Toronto Maple Leafs and veteran defenseman Jake Muzzin are very close to coming to terms on a brand new contract extension. Although there has been no official update coming from the Maple Leafs organization, as you would expect in these matters, Muzzin himself made some comments on Saturday that made it sounds like this one is very close to being a done deal. 

“I let my agent handle these things, but we are close,” a smiling Muzzin said as per the Toronto Sun.

Muzzin provided the update after the Maple Leafs picked up a big win in the third installment of the Battle of Ontario in the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season. Muzzin and the Leafs dispatched the Ottawa Senators by a score of 4 - 2 on Saturday night and Muzzin even scored one of those 4 goals himself, only furthering the case for the Maple Leafs to give him a new deal. Again there have been no official reports regarding what this deal could end up looking like, however there have been rumblings suggesting that this one will come in at around $5.5 million per season, a reasonable price tag for a player like Muzzin that brings a solid all around skillset to the game of hockey.

Muzzin was of course acquired by Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas via a trade last season and he has quickly become a fixture on a Maple Leafs blue line that has struggled badly to find talent and consistency over the past several seasons. The move appears to have worked out for the young Leafs GM with Muzzin having another good season, appearing in 48 games for the Leafs while recording 4 goals and 12 assists for a combined total of 16 points and a plus minus rating of +7 on the season so far.

The Leafs will likely be wary of giving Muzzin a long term deal given that he is already 30 years old, however with Muzzin set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this current season it seems fair to say that the Leafs can not afford to simply let him walk away for free.