Brad Treliving has taken this route a few times — namely, extending Simon Benoit and Bobby McMann in-season to cheap contracts — and continued it with another low-risk deal for Myers that carries virtually no risk.
At a $850k price tag ($75k above the league minimum), Myers can be sent down to the AHL without any financial penalty against the Leafs‘ salary cap, so it’s tough to criticize anything about the commitment. The contract represents pure upside for the Leafs, which is why it makes sense to do this now. If Myers continues playing the way he is, he will be worth a lot more money, but from the Leafs‘ perspective, this was only worth rushing to do if they could lock in a risk-free contract for a player who is still somewhat raw and unproven.