Auston Matthews wants to see and hear from the Toronto Maple Leafs before deciding on his future
First Up: Chris Johnston on TSN 1050 radio said that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews is uncertain about his future with the Maple Leafs, and not just long-term, but for next season.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Host: “You described yesterday’s press conference, I’ve been watching on SportsCenter, uncomfortable from top to bottom. And you have some thoughts on the future of Auston Matthews in lieu of it, this morning in The Athletic. Can you take us through the article you posted and how pertinent is with regards to Matthews in particular?
Johnston: “Well, I think, you know, as we move out of, you know, obviously, just all the talk about the hirings themselves. I mean, obviously, for John Chayka and Mats Sundin, you know, the work starts right away in terms of, you know, rebuilding this roster and getting it back to a better place.
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And, you know, my understanding of where things exist right now with Auston Matthews, according to my sources, is that he’s, he’s still not yet sure what the future holds for him. And you know, if he’s going to, you know, be in a position to return next season. I think he feels as though, you know that he needs to see some, some meaningful improvements to the roster before he’s comfortable making that call.
So, you know, it’s, it’s kind of obviously a lot to throw on, would have been, no matter who it was, whether it was still Brad Treliving, running the team or not. But, you know, I think that we have to recognize that we’re in a very unique time here where, you know, the Leafs are talking about remaining competitive and bouncing back and, you know, rebuilding some of the momentum that, that was lost with their 28th place finish this year.
And it’s going to be tough. I would tell you guys to do it without Auston Matthews. So you know, they’ve still got to get him back on board. And I’m sure that’s among the top items on the list for Chayka as he gets to work today.
Host: “So you say, to return next season? Like, what exactly are you referring to? Like, a hold out, a trade demand. What is potentially in the cards here?
Johnston: “Don’t know how that would take shape, but I mean, you know, obviously he’s got under contract next year and the year after, to the Leafs. But let’s face it, I think if you look at what happened in Edmonton last week, after the Oilers were eliminated, some other places around the league.
You know, star players are having more of a say in their circumstances, you know, their playing conditions. And you know, I don’t mean to in any way present this as a threat. I think it’s more just a reality that, you know, with, with the Leafs crashing down near the bottom of the league last year, with Auston getting to a stage of his career that, you know, he needs to feel like that the organization’s headed in the right direction to want to continue playing here.
And so, how that might play out, you know, I would only be guessing at this stage. I think it would be, you know, almost jumping too far ahead. But you know, there’s a very clear sense at this point in time that, you know, he’s not, he’s not willing to say definitively he’s going to come back next season.
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And you know, that makes these next eight or nine weeks pretty crucial, because this is obviously the window for every team where we get into the trading season, around the draft, and then obviously free agency. And you know, where the leafs new front office can start to put a stamp on the roster and maybe, you know, make the captain feel a little better about the direction of things.”
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