{"id":483219,"date":"2026-03-03T18:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/483219\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T18:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:33:14","slug":"former-maple-leafs-player-puts-toronto-on-high-alert-over-auston-matthews-future-with-trade-deadline-looming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/483219\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Maple Leafs player puts Toronto on high alert over Auston Matthews\u2019 future with trade deadline looming"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> have yet to win a game since the NHL resumed its action following the 2026 Winter Olympics. Thus, Auston Matthews<\/a>\u2014whose last win was in the gold medal game against Canada\u2014and the rest of the team are essentially waving their playoff hopes goodbye.<\/p>\n

However, the scenes could turn even more dramatic in Toronto. The Maple Leafs have long been criticized for coming up short in the postseason, yet missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs entirely is on a whole other level. Needless to say, the first season without Mitch Marner has been a nightmare for the Buds\u2014and the worst may be yet to come.<\/p>\n

According to former Maple Leafs center and analyst Jeff O\u2019Neill, there is a potential scenario in which Auston Matthews requests a trade out of Toronto. It may be a long shot, but it feels closer with each new loss in the 2025-26 NHL<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews could request a trade<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would not shock me if at the end of this season, Brady Tkachuk and Auston Matthews say that\u2019s probably enough for me,\u201d O\u2019Neill said on TSN\u2019s OverDrive. \u201cI\u2019m not kidding you. It would not shock me if both of them said \u2018thanks, but no thanks\u2019. Maybe it\u2019s time to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Auston<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the case, it presents a dilemma for the Maple Leafs. From an entirely business perspective, it might be better to shop Matthews before the trade deadline\u2014when buyers are far likelier to overspend\u2014than wait for the inevitable in the offseason. However, it\u2019s all \u201cifs\u201d at this point. Toronto is relatively secure since Matthews is under contract through the 2027-28 campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Auston<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews just had enough of Toronto Maple Leafs after loss to Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n

<\/a>Context behind it<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill referenced the tension that boiled over during the Winter Olympics. As captains of Canadian NHL franchises who are also household names on Team USA, Tkachuk and Matthews often found themselves between a rock and a hard place. <\/p>\n

At the moment, neither has admitted to a rift with their respective clubs; however, as both Ottawa and Toronto seem on track to miss the playoffs, the pressure could become too much to bear.<\/p>\n

Serving as a captain is a massive accomplishment, but it carries immense responsibility. In the Great White North, the expectations are only magnified. Both Matthews and Tkachuk are expected to be the captains who finally lead their teams to Canada\u2019s first Stanley Cup since 1993.<\/a> In Ontario, the drama and outside noise never truly fades\u2014and if their teams aren\u2019t even qualifying for the postseason, the \u201cbad\u201d may start to outweigh the \u201cgood\u201d for both superstars.<\/p>\n

SurveyWho is likelier to request a trade from his organization?<\/p>\n

Who is likelier to request a trade from his organization?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to win a game since the NHL resumed its action following the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5106],"tags":[532,5,20,5172,4,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-483219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-auston-matthews","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-maple-leafs","11":"tag-mapleleafs","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-toronto","14":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","15":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116166683311592065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}