McCabe is finishing a four-year deal that began in Chicago and pays him $4 million per year. He would have been a UFA this summer, and he just turned 31 a couple of weeks ago. He will be 36 about to turn 37 when this new deal ends.

As part of the trade to Toronto, half his salary and cap hit was retained, so he's been costing $2 million against the cap. This is going to be a big increase that along with the other defence spending is going to mean a serious change in the forward corps. That's a problem for next summer, however.

No word yet on clauses, but it would be very unusual for a player his age to agree to something without trade protection.

Update: This is a deferred compensation deal – something that benefits the team, not the player.

This contract is heavily frontloaded, as is common for Leafs deals.

The part cut off in the first tweet:

"Yr 1/2 No Trade, Yrs 3-5 16 team no trade"

Free Agents and Contracts