Player Discussion Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

[seventieslord]

Auston Matthews has been a playoff disappointment so I would look at shopping him.

How about Leafs offer Matthews to the NYI in trade to keep Auston and Mitch together as Marner has been rumoured to long island?

Auston Matthews to NYI for Matty Barzal C ($9.15 mil ) + Noah Dobson Dman (RFA) + 1st (which is 1st overall)

View attachment 1041854

Former #1 overall for a future #1OA.

The additions of Dobson and also future stud #1 Schaefer are a huge upgrade to the defense.

Would NYI's make this trade and would Leaf fans like this trade?

I would jump at this trade without a second thought, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about how the isles would feel about it.

 

[centipede2233]

I would jump at this trade without a second thought, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about how the isles would feel about it.

I would have said “ACCEPT NO TURN BACKSIES” after Dobson came out of their mouth lol

 

[Ports]

There was a clip of Berube's, locker room speech, where he said something like, play for each other. I thought that may have been a shot at the fans.

I would say it’s a pretty standard speech given in a locker room while acknowledging that the players were feeling a lot of pressure from the fans to win a big game. The problem is. I think the locker room is divided with the selfish core group and a couple of favoured teammates on one side and the rest of the team on the other so “playing for each other isn’t in the core group’s DNA. Hense the “too many passengers quote”.

 

[Ports]

I could see this attitude coming back to haunt the Toronto Maple Leafs and it’s something the Keith Pelley regime will need to take a closer look at. At what point does all this passion turned to anger turn into widespread apathy. You can love the Leafs but still soft tune out the team. Those Maurice, Wilson, Carlyle era games, I didn’t watch them all the time. You don’t like the noise but won’t be a good thing when this quiets down.

I think a lot of fans are close to reaching that point and Rogers and Pelley know that.

 

[58 Years No Cup]

I would say it’s a pretty standard speech given in a locker room while acknowledging that the players were feeling a lot of pressure from the fans to win a big game. The problem is. I think the locker room is divided with the selfish core group and a couple of favoured teammates on one side and the rest of the team on the other so “playing for each other isn’t in the core group’s DNA. Hense the “too many passengers quote”.

Well said. I think this is a fair read on the situation.

 

[horner]

I mean, if calling some of them "passengers" isn't calling them out, I don't know what is.


Look, even I, in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning, was thinking, "Maybe it's time to move him." But it's just not real, or is it happening, and likely for good reason.

He was hurt, and it's on him to get healthy and lead this team, and management needs to do a better job building the team around him.

That was about Knies

 

[Stephen]

I mean, if calling some of them "passengers" isn't calling them out, I don't know what is.


Look, even I, in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning, was thinking, "Maybe it's time to move him." But it's just not real, or is it happening, and likely for good reason.

He was hurt, and it's on him to get healthy and lead this team, and management needs to do a better job building the team around him.

Yes I think cooler heads will prevail and by September everyone will be optimistic things can get on a winning track and Matthews will be back to full health and capacity.

But I think there’s been a shift. The onus is on him to bring a lot more in the playoffs. The team construction has been far from perfect but he’s shown too little to date and the last 2 playoffs and the 2025 regular season were just not really acceptable levels of production.

 

[ahmedou]

Kudos to Papi's Parents

 

[Stephen]

Interesting that Frank Seravalli pointed out on the Fan Morning Show that a player who had been teammates with Matthews, Marner, McDavid and Mackinnon said the Leafs guys don’t work nearly as hard as the other two. Off the top of my head I think that’s probably Tyson Barrie, maybe Calvin Pickard.

I think we can all see it for what it is that these guys aren’t especially hard working at their game compared to the game’s elite. Matthews has a lot of work to do, if he’s even healthy to get back to the level he was at.

 

[centipede2233]

Interesting that Frank Seravalli pointed out on the Fan Morning Show that a player who had been teammates with Matthews, Marner, McDavid and Mackinnon said the Leafs guys don’t work nearly as hard as the other two. Off the top of my head I think that’s probably Tyson Barrie, maybe Calvin Pickard.

I think we can all see it for what it is that these guys aren’t especially hard working at their game compared to the game’s elite. Matthews has a lot of work to do, if he’s even healthy to get back to the level he was at.

The reason Matthew’s and marner dont work as hard is they don’t care as much to win a cup. Hockey really is about the cliche, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. There are so many 50/50 battles in a hockey game and if your players are working hard to win those, doesn’t matter about talent in hockey. This isn’t the nba where a superstar can just swish 3 pointers all day without breaking a sweat.

 

[Stephen]

The reason Matthew’s and marner dont work as hard is they don’t care as much to win a cup. Hockey really is about the cliche, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. There are so many 50/50 battles in a hockey game and if your players are working hard to win those, doesn’t matter about talent in hockey. This isn’t the nba where a superstar can just swish 3 pointers all day without breaking a sweat.

Auston Matthews is one of the handful of special five tool players in the game but he’s not serious about winning like other star players are.

You’d think once in 9 years he would have snapped into hero mode and been a driving force even if the team behind him was flawed for whatever reason. Be a stand out great, drive your team and still lose. We get that and respect that. The whole stage fright pressure nonsense, injuries whisper campaign. All that stuff is for the bin.

If he had Hyman’s work ethic. If he had Knies’ work ethic…

 

[Martin Skoula]

Auston Matthews is one of the handful of special five tool players in the game but he’s not serious about winning like other star players are.

You’d think once in 9 years he would have snapped into hero mode and been a driving force even if the team behind him was flawed for whatever reason. Be a stand out great, drive your team and still lose. We get that and respect that. The whole stage fright pressure nonsense, injuries whisper campaign. All that stuff is for the bin.

If he had Hyman’s work ethic. If he had Knies’ work ethic…

If he plays the exact same playoffs except fires 5 or 6 shots 2 inches differently, no one is complaining about work ethic. The thing missing besides the shooting is hitting with the intention of hurting a guy (legally) not just separating a puck, the desire to not just win but embarrass the other team in front of their fans and cause a front office meltdown the way Wilson destroyed the Rangers.

It’s not the work ethic it’s that if we beat Florida and played Carolina, you know he wouldn’t crash the crease aggressively because his buddy is in net. Bennet and Tkachuk had no problem targeting their buddies in Stolarz and Marner.

 

[Stephen]

If he plays the exact same playoffs except fires 5 or 6 shots 2 inches differently, no one is complaining about work ethic. The thing missing besides the shooting is hitting with the intention of hurting a guy (legally) not just separating a puck, the desire to not just win but embarrass the other team in front of their fans and cause a front office meltdown the way Wilson destroyed the Rangers.

It’s not the work ethic it’s that if we beat Florida and played Carolina, you know he wouldn’t crash the crease aggressively because his buddy is in net. Bennet and Tkachuk had no problem targeting their buddies in Stolarz and Marner.

It’s not posts missed in 2025 only.

It’s his entire career from 2017-2025 and the absence of any team success and individual moments of greatness in big moments and all the plays he didn’t fight through.

It’s the feeling that it was McDavid and Matthews for this generation. Then it was McDavid, Mackinnon, Matthews and Draisaitl for this generation. And Matthews is no longer even in the vicinity of those comparables. It’s not a statistical anomaly or an unlucky roll of the dice. The problem is Auston.

 

[ULF_55]

It’s not posts missed in 2025 only.

It’s his entire career from 2017-2025 and the absence of any team success and individual moments of greatness in big moments and all the plays he didn’t fight through.

It’s the feeling that it was McDavid and Matthews for this generation. Then it was McDavid, Mackinnon, Matthews and Draisaitl for this generation. And Matthews is no longer even in the vicinity of those comparables. It’s not a statistical anomaly or an unlucky roll of the dice. The problem is Auston.

He has one very good gear when healthy.

He just doesn't have overdrive.

Just watching McKinnon, Draisaitl, McDavid go into overdrive you can see, dramatically, the difference. Leon doesn't seem to have the same top end, but more like all wheel drive plowing at speed through.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Auston Matthews is one of the handful of special five tool players in the game but he’s not serious about winning like other star players are.

You’d think once in 9 years he would have snapped into hero mode and been a driving force even if the team behind him was flawed for whatever reason. Be a stand out great, drive your team and still lose. We get that and respect that. The whole stage fright pressure nonsense, injuries whisper campaign. All that stuff is for the bin.

If he had Hyman’s work ethic. If he had Knies’ work ethic…

He lacks one of da 5 tools - straight line speed .. he can't separate himself with speed like McJesus or MAC .. and straight line speed becomes much more important in da playoffs when every game amps up 10% in pace on regular season hockey.. everyone keeps forgetting this critical SKILL

 

[Gabriel426]

If he plays the exact same playoffs except fires 5 or 6 shots 2 inches differently, no one is complaining about work ethic. The thing missing besides the shooting is hitting with the intention of hurting a guy (legally) not just separating a puck, the desire to not just win but embarrass the other team in front of their fans and cause a front office meltdown the way Wilson destroyed the Rangers.

It’s not the work ethic it’s that if we beat Florida and played Carolina, you know he wouldn’t crash the crease aggressively because his buddy is in net. Bennet and Tkachuk had no problem targeting their buddies in Stolarz and Marner.

It is simple, AM and the rest of the core just doesn’t hate losing like the other top players in the league. They always will find excuses and reasons to justify their losses. From the other team is better, good lesson, depth scoring, defence, goaltending, injuries, fans pressure…. They look at others and think, hey, if I only have more helps, we can win….
While guys like McD, Drai, Mack will just look at themselves and say f*** it, I need to be better, if my teammates can’t do it, I need to do their part myself and more….
And to me that’s the difference between our guys and McD, Mack, Drai.

That’s also why I believe the Leafs need a cultural reset. They need to let go 3-4 of the core 5. Get players with the Alpha Attitude-which is just someone that says F*** it, I will do all the work to win as I just hate losing more. I am all for getting guys like Marchessault, signs UFA like Bennett, Ekblad, and Marchand.

 

[Stephen]

He lacks one of da 5 tools - straight line speed .. he can't separate himself with speed like McJesus or MAC .. and straight line speed becomes much more important in da playoffs when every game amps up 10% in pace on regular season hockey.. everyone keeps forgetting this critical SKILL

I don’t think you need after burners when you’re a 6’3” 220 pound centerman. I think his north south game suffers because he doesn’t truck in straight lines, slows himself down with overly fussy puck handling as he’s moving forward. And the will to go to the net is wildly inconsistent.

Look. It’s easy to see the skills. The size. The five tool package. It’s also apparent when a player who has accomplished so much isn’t putting his foot on the gas in a consistent way.

 

[Stephen]

It is simple, AM and the rest of the core just doesn’t hate losing like the other top players in the league. They always will find excuses and reasons to justify their losses. From the other team is better, good lesson, depth scoring, defence, goaltending, injuries, fans pressure…. They look at others and think, hey, if I only have more helps, we can win….
While guys like McD, Drai, Mack will just look at themselves and say f*** it, I need to be better, if my teammates can’t do it, I need to do their part myself and more….
And to me that’s the difference between our guys and McD, Mack, Drai.

That’s also why I believe the Leafs need a cultural reset. They need to let go 3-4 of the core 5. Get players with the Alpha Attitude-which is just someone that says F*** it, I will do all the work to win as I just hate losing more. I am all for getting guys like Marchessault, signs UFA like Bennett, Ekblad, and Marchand.

They look like a bunch of guys who got fed too much of the “you’re going to win eventually lore” Dubas and Shanahan kept espousing. Making winning seem inevitable like you were following someone else’s script. Uh uh. You have to find your own way and it’s hard, not inevitable and requires a lot more.

 

[thewave]

It is simple, AM and the rest of the core just doesn’t hate losing like the other top players in the league. They always will find excuses and reasons to justify their losses. From the other team is better, good lesson, depth scoring, defence, goaltending, injuries, fans pressure…. They look at others and think, hey, if I only have more helps, we can win….
While guys like McD, Drai, Mack will just look at themselves and say f*** it, I need to be better, if my teammates can’t do it, I need to do their part myself and more….
And to me that’s the difference between our guys and McD, Mack, Drai.

That’s also why I believe the Leafs need a cultural reset. They need to let go 3-4 of the core 5. Get players with the Alpha Attitude-which is just someone that says F*** it, I will do all the work to win as I just hate losing more. I am all for getting guys like Marchessault, signs UFA like Bennett, Ekblad, and Marchand.

Weird methods yes, but Babcock was doing the right thing and same with Lou. They became essentially spoiled brats under Dubas.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

I don't buy the "not working hard enough" thing for Matthews. He wasn't born with the curl & drag wrister that he relied on until he got wrist surgery. That was 2021 and he had two 60+ goal seasons after he stopped being able to do it consistently and instead worked on his one-timer and changed his shooting dynamics to compensate. To me it's clearly not taking his health seriously and it's been a recurring pattern with the Leafs and their medical staff trying to wish away injuries and playing through them when it's not remotely necessary.

Marner on the other hand has stayed healthy through the playoffs and has no excuses. Is it a lack of hard work? Who knows. He's definitely a choker but the mental side of the game isn't exactly about doing more reps in the gym or meditating under a waterfall until your will becomes steel.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

No more injury excuses, the GM said he was "terrific".

 

[JKG33]

If he plays the exact same playoffs except fires 5 or 6 shots 2 inches differently, no one is complaining about work ethic.

And if Bob doesnt let in that muffin of a shot he'd still have no goals in round 2.

The thing missing besides the shooting is hitting with the intention of hurting a guy (legally) not just separating a puck, the desire to not just win but embarrass the other team in front of their fans and cause a front office meltdown the way Wilson destroyed the Rangers.

It’s not the work ethic it’s that if we beat Florida and played Carolina, you know he wouldn’t crash the crease aggressively because his buddy is in net. Bennet and Tkachuk had no problem targeting their buddies in Stolarz and Marner.

The rest i agree with

 

[HockeyVirus]

I would jump at this trade without a second thought, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about how the isles would feel about it.

lol Barzal is a soft player who has had 2 PPG seasons and the rest well short in the last 10 years. Dobson just had the worst year of his career but wants to be paid like the best year he had the year before. This draft doesn't even have a clear #1 OA pick. They will be great player most likely but nothing close to any of our superstars.

All in all, you are trading a superstar franchise #1 C who makes 13 and adding 3 worse players who will make double that.

 

[Kurtz]

Auston Matthews is one of the handful of special five tool players in the game but he’s not serious about winning like other star players are.

You’d think once in 9 years he would have snapped into hero mode and been a driving force even if the team behind him was flawed for whatever reason. Be a stand out great, drive your team and still lose. We get that and respect that. The whole stage fright pressure nonsense, injuries whisper campaign. All that stuff is for the bin.

If he had Hyman’s work ethic. If he had Knies’ work ethic…

It's pretty absurd to claim that a guy who scored 69 goals, while being a Selke nominee, who kills penalties and blocks more shots than any other forward on the team "lacks work ethic".

If you actually want to see a guy with a questionable work ethic, watch Nylander in the defensive zone.

 

[sunstersun]

He lacks one of da 5 tools - straight line speed .. he can't separate himself with speed like McJesus or MAC .. and straight line speed becomes much more important in da playoffs when every game amps up 10% in pace on regular season hockey.. everyone keeps forgetting this critical SKILL

He also lacks a signature one timer. Hard to be open for a shot in the playoffs. One timers are crucial.