The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a rough season and with each and every passing game, it’s not getting better. Now, to make matters worse, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the future of Auston Matthews is up in the air and will be determined this summer.
This report came during his Saturday Headlines segment, when he and Ron MacLean talked about how the Maple Leafs’ deadline went and what their future as an organization could look like. The biggest question mark now is what the future of Matthews looks like with how much this team is struggling. Is he going to stay and help be part of the solution, or is he going to ask for a trade out of Toronto after missing the playoffs for the first time in his career?
Matthews’ Future Up in the Air
The report from Friedman has become a massive talking point in Toronto and rightfully so. Their captain and the face of the organization has his future up in the air and it will be determined this summer when he and the front office meet. After everything the fan base has endured this season, with the loss of Mitch Marner and then no real replacements for him, they’ve had to sit through a difficult year. Now on top of all that, they may be losing their captain?
Friedman also talked about that. He mentioned that he does believe there will be a conversation, but doesn’t necessarily believe Matthews is going to leave.
“I heard you guys in the first intermission talk about how Matthews looks and how much this is tough right now,” Friedman said. “I just think that, at the end of the season — first of all, there was zero chance he was getting dealt at the deadline — but I think at the end of the season, they’re going to sit down and have a conversation with him. It might actually not be right at the end of the year; they might wait a little bit to see how everything unfolds and what they decide to do and where they stand and where everything was going.”
“The one thing that a couple of people reminded me of this week was he signed his current extension in August of 2023, but it was a year before — two years before — he could even hit Unrestricted Free Agency,” Friedman said. “The Maple Leafs went down to meet with him in the summer, and the one thing he told them at that time was as long as it didn’t go off the rails, he was staying. The one thing they feel very comfortable about as an organization is that Matthews will not in any way put them in a bad spot. Right now, at this point in time, I don’t think he’s given them any indication that he’s unhappy or wants to go anywhere.”
If Friedman’s report is correct, and typically they are, Maple Leafs fans don’t have much to worry about. There could be a chance that Matthews indicates this summer that he wants out of Toronto to pursue another opportunity with a new club. However, as Friedman alluded to, there is no indication that he is unhappy. He may not be thrilled that his team is losing. But if the team can push to retool in one offseason similar to the Boston Bruins did last season, then there is a very good chance that Matthews stays.
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At this point, all Leafs Nation can do is wait. First, they’ll need to get through the final 18 games and see if they can keep their first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Then the organization should have a better idea of what Matthews wants to do. Hopefully by then we will also have a better idea of how this team will look heading into the 2026-27 season.
