Maple Leafs Sign Marshall Rifai To Two-Year Extension

The Maple Leafs have extended defenseman Marshall Rifai on a two-year contract, the team announced today. The deal will pay him up to $1.55MM in total ($775K per season) if he’s on the NHL roster – the league minimum. It’s likely a two-way contract, although the team declined to specify.

Rifai, 26, signed an AHL contract with the Maple Leafs’ affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, after completing his collegiate career at Harvard in 2022. He landed a two-year, two-way NHL deal with the Maple Leafs the following summer after recording 16 points, a +3 rating, and a team-high 118 PIMs in 69 games with the Marlies in his first professional season.

The left-shot defender’s first year under an NHL contract also saw him make his NHL debut. Rifai suited up twice for the Leafs last season, posting a +1 rating, one shot, and four hits while averaging 11:40 of ice time across the pair of February contests. He also improved offensively on the farm, upping his production to 17 assists and 19 points in 57 games with the Marlies while posting 71 PIMs and a +14 rating.

Rifai would have become an unrestricted free agent next summer, a fate avoided with today’s extension. He’ll now be eligible to test the open market when his new deal expires in 2027. Attaching two additional years of term to his contract now makes it highly unlikely that a team will claim Rifai off waivers when Toronto attempts to assign him to the Marlies to begin the season.