Auston Matthews has put the Maple Leafs on notice and the offseason just got a clear deadline
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Auston Matthews wants action, not promises from the Toronto Maple Leafs and he just gave them a clear idea of when they need to figure things out.
It’s a nightmare to navigate if you’re John Chayka and the new Maple Leafs GM is going to have a lot of work ahead of him, especially considering there is technically a meeting planned to happen but nothing in terms of a prospective date has been announced.
It would be nice if the captain would give the team a definitive date to get their affairs in order because not only would it make life easier for the front office, but also give fans a bit of a timeline so they can stop feeling so anxious.
Matthews has heard the same promises before and he’s telling Chayka that time is over
Well it seems like Matthews is giving Toronto some time to impress him though according to Chris Johnston it’s a lot more about what they do and not what they say:
As of last night there was nothing scheduled so it’s unlikely there’s a meeting in the coming days. The one part of the story I put out there that remains 100% true is that he wants to see things.
It’s not just about hearing some kind of plan communicated, it’s about seeing what this roster looks like by summertime. The urgency to have that meeting is certainly a bit stronger on the Leafs end, and it’s not like he doesn’t want to meet with them – it’s about what they do.
We’ve heard for years about how the team is ‘built to win’ yet when it comes to the playoffs they falter time and time again. Looking at last season where it was a complete implosion, the last thing Matthews wants to hear is exactly what he’s heard for 10 years.
As much as he’s friends with his teammates, he also wants some actually productive ones and if the team can’t find him the proper playmaker (aka draft Gavin McKenna) and some real defence – it could be meaningless no matter what else they do.
Chayka has eight weeks to make changes with the captain watching everything under a microscope
So what does Chayka need to do in order to appease the captain? Well, bringing in McKenna is a good start and plopping him alongside Matthews can only benefit the both of them.
Give the captain some more protection too, both defensively and also literally. We know the whole Radko Gudas situation was a black mark on the Maple Leafs as a whole, so trying to pursue a guy like Tom Wilson or Will Cuylle would be a very good idea.
You want someone who cares about winning just as much as the captain, and it’s going to be a very interesting summer for Chayka. The next biggest date is the NHL Draft which is June 26th, so he has about a month-and-a-half to get his plan together and start putting it into action.
Because action is the only thing that is going to even remotely convince Auston Matthews to stay and even then it might not be enough to keep him in town.
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Auston Matthews has put the Maple Leafs on notice and the offseason just got a clear deadline
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