The latest on the Maple Leafs coaching search, Auston Matthews and other roster movements
Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined NHL Tonight with Erika Watcher on NHL Network and was asked about the Toronto Maple Leafs, their coaching search, and the future of Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Auston Matthews Trade Outlook Remains Complex
Erika Watcher: “So let’s now bring in the guy who knows all about all these happenings. Our NHL Network Insider Dave Pagnotta. Dave, great to see you. Lots to dive into here. Let’s start with the Maple Leafs. Always a ton of chatter out of Toronto. What is the latest that you are hearing with their coaching search and of course players like Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, Erika, never a dull moment in Toronto within the hockey season or in the off season. Yeah, they’re going through the process, the first steps of their coaching search at the moment, and while they’re narrowing down candidates or trying to get to a list of candidates that they want to reach out to, they’re just starting that process, really, this coming week.
I believe that the interviews are going to start to begin this week with a number of candidates. I believe they’ve had some conversations back and forth, but the formal interviews are going to start to begin. And I would imagine they’re going to start reaching out to a few clubs to see whom they might be able to speak with, who they can get permission from in order to interview for the vacancy.
Anaheim Ducks Free Agents, and Maple Leafs Will Talk Trade About Anyone But Auston Matthews
I believe Jay Woodcroft is one of the guys on their list. He’s the former head coach of the Oilers and an assistant with the Anaheim Ducks. So that’s the calibre of coach that they’re looking at. They’re going to, they’ve said it, John Chayka has said they’re going to cast a wide net. But at the same time, as much as they’re going to look at some of the veteran coaches that are out there, I think they’re also going to look at some of the first-year potentials, or those that have had experience, a little bit of experience behind the bench already.
And as you mentioned, in addition to that, they have to talk to their captain, Auston Matthews. Have that face-to-face in Arizona; they haven’t had that yet. Mats Sundin and John Chayka will meet with Auston Matthews and his agent, Judd Moldaver, in Arizona in the not-too-distant future. There’s no definitive timeline just yet, but they want to have that face-to-face, make sure everybody’s on the same page with the direction of this club.
His position, to my knowledge, hasn’t changed. He wants to win in Toronto. He wants to stay there. He wants to make sure that that’s the path that this team is going to start to take again in Toronto. If it’s not the case, then yeah, he’s going to have a different decision. And both sides really will have a different decision to make, but they’re going to get to that.
NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews
One of the decisions the team might have to make is the future of Morgan Rielly, as you alluded to. He was the subject of trade speculation leading into the trade deadline. I believe that they’re going to have a conversation with him as well. He has a full no-move and dictates where he can go, but I think they are going to explore that over the course of this offseason.”
NHLRumors.com Note: The Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, have talked with Auston Matthews. Right now, it is tough to have that face-to-face conversation, given that the player just had surgery and the team is going through a coaching search. Now, with Zoom, they did have everyone on the same page. It will be interesting to see how the Maple Leafs upgrade their team outside of having the 1st overall pick to accelerate the retool.
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