Matthews in Toronto ending soon?

[jitterbug]

We now have the McDavid saga to go with

nothing will ever come close to the Matthews saga AINEC

 

[Fatass]

If Matthews does move on I see him seeking the bright “lights of Broadway”.

 

[centipede2233]

They should trade him but I see him playing out his contract and leaving with no assets to return, sound familiar?

 

[Peasy]

They'll give it at least 2 more years before they seriously considering moving him in his last year and moving on from this group for good.

But Rogers will probably just look at the short term, force them to keep Matthews until he walks just so they can possible get some more jersey sales and maybe some more playoff game revenue.

Then they'll be shocked pikachu when theyre a shit team for the following decade.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Yeah but what if a team that probably doesn’t want to trade a guy (who has an NMC) wants to trade a guy (with an NMC) who probably doesn’t want to leave? Isn’t that an interesting discussion?

No because they aren't trading Auston f***ing Matthews.

 

[Frank Drebin]

He is the player who defines this era of the leafs. Hope he retires there

 

[Evergreen]

I personally think it's absurd to blame players for negotiating the best contract they can get. Auston did not come from privilege. He's one of the best players in the league and deserves every penny of his contract. Why should he have to commit himself to playing in one city for 8 years? He earned the right to negotiate a contract at a term and value that suited his preferences.

Does that come with added pressure? Yes. Do I think that some Toronto players, such as Matthews and Marner, would have had a much easier time with the Toronto media and fans if they had taken slightly less money? Yes. In that sense it was probably ill-advised to squeeze as much out of the Leafs as possible. But to criticize them as if it's selfish is stupid.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

The biggest problem with the Leafs is the franchise. The fact that the Leafs have gone 58 years without a Stanley Cup contending team rests on the organization...not the players.

Matthews grew where he was planted...the toxic environment of the Leafs tainted his growth and stunted his development. He's an old dog now...unlikely to learn the "new tricks" needed to evolve into a true leader and contender.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

God I hope not , they are perfect for eachother , I love AM34 on the leafs

 

[JKG33]

I sure hope so. Most embarrassing Leafs era is these clowns. Guy belongs on some irrelevant team where winning doesnt matter and he can cash his checks then f*** off with Bieber to a UFC fight

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Just what we needed is another Leafs bad thread on the mains

Stop whining about this in every single thread and just don’t open it next time

 

[NyQuil]

He clearly wasn't the same player this year owing to his injuries. His most dangerous weapon, his shot, was a shadow of what it was when he won the Hart.

I'm thinking there will be a lot of interest in how he looks to start off next year.

Is it a blip that off-season rehab will address, or is the "new" Auston Matthews here to stay?

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

He’s probably dying to get out of there

 

[SharksFan1992]

Just what we needed is another Leafs bad thread on the mains

Considering how cocky Leafs fans were when they were up 2-0 vs FLA, I think it's warranted

 

[SharksFan1992]

It's pretty obvious at this point. Marner is as good as gone. Matthews will follow suit once they get offered a reasonable package. I guarantee he'll get dealt to a southern team.

 

[The Shadow]

No because they aren't trading Auston f***ing Matthews.

Well they sure as hell aren’t losing him for nothing. I’m sure they learned their lesson.
I’d say he’s as good as gone. Just a matter of 2 years or less. He won’t play out his 3 year deal as a leaf

 

[The Shadow]

I personally think it's absurd to blame players for negotiating the best contract they can get. Auston did not come from privilege. He's one of the best players in the league and deserves every penny of his contract. Why should he have to commit himself to playing in one city for 8 years? He earned the right to negotiate a contract at a term and value that suited his preferences.

Does that come with added pressure? Yes. Do I think that some Toronto players, such as Matthews and Marner, would have had a much easier time with the Toronto media and fans if they had taken slightly less money? Yes. In that sense it was probably ill-advised to squeeze as much out of the Leafs as possible. But to criticize them as if it's selfish is stupid.

I don’t disagree with all you have to say but him knowing the cap was flat and the team was right to their max cap he took as much as possible knowing they couldn’t build a contender

I’d say a guy who wants to win more than make money would have taken less.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

He has the personality where he doesn't really care how his comments are perceived and doesn't really care what others think. Lacking some self-awareness perhaps, but he doesn't lack for confidence. Health is *a* concern to be sure. He's battled injuries off and on through his career and this year was a particular struggle. even though he was still reasonably productive. The Leafs need a bit of a retool though to get the most out of him. It might seem like a contradiction in terms, but losing Marner might be a positive. Use that money to redefine the forward group. Perhaps get a bit deeper. Add another dynamic force to the blueline.

 

[Evergreen]

I don’t disagree with all you have to say but him knowing the cap was flat and the team was right to their max cap he took as much as possible knowing they couldn’t build a contender

I’d say a guy who wants to win more than make money would have taken less.

I don’t agree that the Leafs couldn’t build a contender because of Matthews’s salary. They failed at building a contender because of poor overall cap management and ill-advised moves.

 

[Divine]

Is Auston Matthews leaving soon? "just 3 more years left on his contract" - that's almost half a max contract. I wouldn't classify that as soon unless you mean he's traded.

Also, like Marner, he has a full NMC. Let's not act like the Leafs didn't try to trade Marner. They had a deal in place for Rantanen and Marner didn't want to go there.

 

[WarriorofTime]

They'll try hard to win the next two seasons. If they aren't good by the end of that, they probably trade him for 50 cents on the dollar to a location he agrees to waive for. If they are good, that's probably the point he signs an 8-year max extension to cover his age 31-38 seasons. Matthews played the contract game smart. Dubas was a fool for letting him sign for 5 years (only buying one year of UFA) at that price. We'll see if new stars follow his lead on going short, it's a bit of a gamble (Matthews could deteriorate and nobody wants to pay him $13.25 million, rising cap or not) but there's also a lot of upside and less money getting left on the table by re-upping three times compared to just signing successive max length deals. Then if new stars do try and take that route, we'll see which GMs have the stones to go to battle with them at the time when player has the least amount of leverage (coming off their ELC, no arb rights and all they can really do is sign an offer sheet).

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I think it’s time to start the discussion because I believe it’s going to happen sooner than later that Matthews will be moved out of Toronto

In his media exit interview he threw his team under the bus saying that they had too many passengers

Toronto will not make the same mistake they did with Marner by having him leave for nothing

3 years left on Matthews contract and I see him following Marner wherever he goes

I predict he will not be a leaf for more than 2 more seasons and maybe less.

He bled the team for every penny he could get and still signed only a 4 year deal where many other stars like McDavid and MacKinnon signed longterm deals

So where do you think he ends up ??

View attachment 1054763

Where can one get a Patrick Marleau shirt like that?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

With whipping boy Marner as good as gone, the spotlight will shine even more brightly on Matthews. Marner has that cocky and abrasive personality that makes him easy to dislike but it will be interesting to see how Matthews performs without one of the best playmakers in the league setting him up. It’s clearly his team now and assuming he’s healthy this year will be a huge one for him.

 

[Sting]

Can't help but feel the Leafs window has more or less closed now. Might be wrong on that and they surprise next year but I think the best is behind this core.

Assuming they start to falter over the next 1-2 years of course Matthews is getting moved.

I probably wouldn't want to be the team acquiring him because I don't think he'll age well. If he has back issues at 27, imagine how they're going to be when he's 30+.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Stop whining about this in every single thread and just don’t open it next time

No absolutely not. Every single positive Leaf thread is full of you guys saying why isn't this on the Leaf board, yet we've had 3-4 identical threads posted that aren't saying anything new but Leafs bad.