Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

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IMO, it's a wrist injury, that isn't fixable without surgery. Off season, he'll have another surgery, and it will take months to heal.. hence why he couldn't have it now, or the season would be lost.

It's probably blasphemy, but I'm ready to move on from him., he just hasn't stepped up, and with his injury history, he can't be counted on. To LA Kings for Byfield, Clarke and Greentree.
A wrist injury is the only thing that makes sense when it comes to his shooting % being shitty...but what about his lack of burst and just general malaise? Is he just frustrated about his wrist and not going all out? I have no clue...but there is definitely something pretty serious going on.
 
By the time his deal is done our window will likely be closed and we'll have wasted the most talented core of homegrown players the leafs have had in decades if not ever.
The core would have wasted it themselves along with bad GMing

Matthews subpar playoff player
Marner subpar playoff player
Nylander subpar playoff player
Tavares garbage playoff player

The core guys producing well in the reg season and then caving come playoffs is on them.

We have tried different GMs, Coaches, Depth players, Defenses, Goalies

Its these 5 guys that suck compared to other contending teams cores.

They all wanted too much AAV, all have a tendancy to be poor playoff players, and all dont like playoff style tight & checking physical defensive clogged hockey.

Its on Lou & Dubas. We overinflated their egos and kept giving them whatever they wanted

Nylander during his 2019 holdout, Marner after 2021 disaster vs Habs, Matthews/Nylander/Marner all after 2023 were chances to make a major core changeup and reshift the culture here.
 
By the time his deal is done our window will likely be closed and we'll have wasted the most talented core of homegrown players the leafs have had in decades if not ever.

If this era goes down in flames, and I think that's likely, just be clear that the Leafs didn't waste the "most talented core of homegrown players" more so that these players weren't as good as they had imagined, or they flat lined developmentally somewhere along the way and didn't mature as serious competitors.

Management could have been better here and there but there's no reason why we shouldn't have been the ECF once or twice, been in the finals or else been a second round team on a regular basis if talent alone was what's important for a hockey program.

Whatever you believe hockey intangibles to be, 34 and 16 together don't have it. It's obvious in elimination moments. They've wasted their own era.
 

Knies, Marner and Berube left talking up the captain in his absence. Knies takes responsibility for needing to be better.
 
If this era goes down in flames, and I think that's likely, just be clear that the Leafs didn't waste the "most talented core of homegrown players" more so that these players weren't as good as they had imagined, or they flat lined developmentally somewhere along the way and didn't mature as serious competitors.

Management could have been better here and there but there's no reason why we shouldn't have been the ECF once or twice, been in the finals or else been a second round team on a regular basis if talent alone was what's important for a hockey program.

Whatever you believe hockey intangibles to be, 34 and 16 together don't have it. It's obvious in elimination moments. They've wasted their own era.

While front offices and coaches of this team will certainly come to deserve quite a bit of blame, it's pretty hard to look at the players be in so many elimination games year after year and not once has a guy been able to put them on their back.

Heaven forbid one of them get slightly lower aav than their closest contract comparison though
 
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Next season will be even worse imho.

Off season surgery, misses first half of season, never finds his groove in second half of season.

He’ll have a great season after that, as he’ll be eligible to sign an extension after year 3 of current deal.
 
While front offices and coaches of this team will certainly come to deserve quite a bit of blame, it's pretty hard to look at the players be in so many elimination games year after year and not once has a guy been able to put them on their back.

Heaven forbid one of them get slightly lower aav than their closest contract comparison though

Yeah I think we’ve seen enough. Era is over.
 
He can't shoot normally and that's really hindering his offense. The guy isn't a puck wizard or a masterful playmaker (though to his credit, he has been racking up assists lately).

His shot is his greatest asset.
 
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The core would have wasted it themselves along with bad GMing

Matthews subpar playoff player
Marner subpar playoff player
Nylander subpar playoff player
Tavares garbage playoff player

The core guys producing well in the reg season and then caving come playoffs is on them.

We have tried different GMs, Coaches, Depth players, Defenses, Goalies

Its these 5 guys that suck compared to other contending teams cores.

They all wanted too much AAV, all have a tendancy to be poor playoff players, and all dont like playoff style tight & checking physical defensive clogged hockey.

Its on Lou & Dubas. We overinflated their egos and kept giving them whatever they wanted

Nylander during his 2019 holdout, Marner after 2021 disaster vs Habs, Matthews/Nylander/Marner all after 2023 were chances to make a major core changeup and reshift the culture here.
The bolded is just wrong.
 
I’ve always felt it was his back and that the only chance to fix it was with surgery but that would have meant a lost season this year.

When he went to Germany it was obvious that surgery wasn’t on the table as an option so it will be interesting to see what he and has camp plan on doing this summer to fix the issue.
 
I’ve always felt it was his back and that the only chance to fix it was with surgery but that would have meant a lost season this year.

When he went to Germany it was obvious that surgery wasn’t on the table as an option so it will be interesting to see what he and has camp plan on doing this summer to fix the issue.

I’m guessing surgery mid season was off the table due to Four Nations positioned right in the middle of everything but if you take it all together this whole 2024-25 season needs to be flushed down the toilet. It’s pretty obvious Matthews has nothing to offer for a long playoff run. My guess is he goes into the offseason requiring surgery and 2025-26 is basically last call before deciding whether to move him. We can’t build around this guy.
 
I’ve always felt it was his back and that the only chance to fix it was with surgery but that would have meant a lost season this year.

When he went to Germany it was obvious that surgery wasn’t on the table as an option so it will be interesting to see what he and has camp plan on doing this summer to fix the issue.
Back surgery... Oy. Never mess with your back.
 
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Auston’s career as an impact scoring forward might be at risk here. We may have seen his best already and injuries and all might mean those 40-60 goal days are over.
That's fair but if I was Auston Matthews, I would not let anyone operate on my back.
 
That's fair but if I was Auston Matthews, I would not let anyone operate on my back.

I don’t think we have the information on what’s wrong with him to have a position on surgery but I think the era might be coming to a close. Can’t win with him when he’s healthy he’s showing some major red flags whether he can be an impact player moving forwards. All I can see is he’s overtaken Tavares on the decline curve.
 
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I don’t think we have the information on what’s wrong with him to have a position on surgery but I think the era might be coming to a close. Can’t win with him when he’s healthy he’s showing some major red flags whether he can be an impact player moving forwards. All I can see is he’s overtaken Tavares on the decline curve.
I don't disagree with you. Domi was far more impactful, tonight, and if Matthews had gotten lucky with his goal, things would have looked even worse.

In hindsight, keeping Marner is for the best because just like Toews / Kane, the lighter / smaller Marner will have a longer/better career than Mathews.
 
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I don’t think we have the information on what’s wrong with him to have a position on surgery but I think the era might be coming to a close. Can’t win with him when he’s healthy he’s showing some major red flags whether he can be an impact player moving forwards. All I can see is he’s overtaken Tavares on the decline curve.
I think we have to see how the summer plays out with his rehab of the injury to know for sure about any decline. We have to see how he starts and looks next season
 

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