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Auston Matthews Leafs
New Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka said the team is hopeful about “getting on the same page” as captain Auston Matthews.
The Maple Leafs made a big move on Wednesday when they fired head coach Craig Berube after two seasons at the helm of the roster. The Leafs will now embark on a wide-ranging search for a new head coach, with Chayka saying he is in no rush to make a decision, as he wants to find the right person to lead the Maple Leafs going forward.
On top of getting another coach, one of the other main things on Chayka’s to-do list at the moment is getting Matthews on the same page as him and the Leafs. To that end, Chayka is supposed to get in touch with Matthews very soon for a face-to-face meeting to see where he’s at, as there have been mixed reports about how the team’s captain is feeling about the state of the Maple Leafs right now.
After all, Matthews wants to win a Stanley Cup, and the Leafs are far from being a cup contender after they missed the playoffs this season for the first time in a decade. But the Leafs also got a Hail Mary given to them by the hockey gods when they won the NHL draft lottery and earned the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, which allows them to take any prospect they want, with the expectation that they will choose winger Gavin McKenna at No. 1 overall.
Although things were bad in Toronto this past season, there is a lot of optimism now with Chayka and Mats Sundin running the ship, and the new Leafs GM is hoping that he can get on the same page as the team’s leader, Matthews, when they meet up in person in the coming days.
“Auston’s an accomplished player that is world class, & I think he wants to align on the vision & the strategy ahead, as do we. I don’t think there’s any type of competing interest. It’s about getting on the same page,” Chayka said (via Mark Masters).
Leafs GM John Chayka on Matthews:
“Auston’s an accomplished player that is world class, & I think he wants to align on the vision & the strategy ahead, as do we. I don’t think there’s any type of competing interest. It’s about getting on the same page”
On top of getting Matthews on board with the Leafs’ plans going forward, the team needs to make significant changes to its roster this offseason if it is going to make a playoff push next year.
To that end, the biggest place of potential upgrading is on defense, as the Leafs had one of the worst defensive teams in the league last year. The team’s goalies being healthy will certainly help the Leafs out, but they will need to bring in some new defenseman. Morgan Rielly, the team’s longtime No. 1 defenseman, will likely be asked to waive his NMC and potentially be traded.
In his place, they may target Darren Raddysh, who is coming off a 70-point season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Raddysh is the top free-agent defenseman on the board, plus he’s a Toronto native, so he makes sense for the Leafs to sign. Either way, this team needs to overhaul the roster if they are going to show Matthews they are a contender and convince him to sign long-term. With roughly $20 million in cap space, they certainly have the resources to do just that.
Adam Martin Adam Martin is a sports journalist with over 15 years of experience. He has a speciality in MMA, while also covering the Big 4 Sports. Adam is currently a contributor to Heavy.com, with previous experience working for The Toronto Star, Sportsnet, theScore, Bookies, BJPenn.com, and MMAOddsbreaker.com. More about Adam Martin
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