Auston Matthews reveals what Shane Doan's level of involvement was in his contract extension negotiations
There was a lot of noise in Toronto following the announcement that Auston Matthews had signed a 4-year extension that will pay him $13.25M per season last week. Matthews didn't waste any time in hopping onto a media call following the announcement to field some questions before training camp and one of the questions he was asked that didn't really get a lot of attention was about his connection to Shane Doan, what it meant to him to have Doan accept a job with the Leafs this summer and whether or not Doan was influential in helping throughout the contract negotiations.
Matthews grew up in Arizona, as we all well know, and idolized Doan - a former Coyotes captain and career-long Jet/Coyote. So, naturally, his reaction to the news that Doan had agreed to join Brad Treliving's staff in Toronto was very positive.
"I was obviously super excited. I've known Doaner for a really long time now... one of my idols growing up, I feel really fortunate to be able to call him a friend. [He's] somebody that I've gotten to know [well] over the years... It's kind of cool to have him on this side now. I think he's going to be a great addition to our staff, a great addition to our team."
In terms of how involved Doan was in the Matthews extension negotiations, the former Hart Trophy winner explained that Doan was only involved briefly in the very beginning but that he hadn't been involved at all, aside from some limited early conversations.
"As far as the contract negotiations, he wasn't really too heavily involved. We have a couple of conversations early on when he ended up taking the job. I'm excited. He's a great person, he's a great hockey mind and I'm really going to enjoy seeing him around the rink a lot this year."
Treliving had a previous relationship with Doan, stemming from his time as an assistant GM in Arizona when Doan was still playing in Arizona. It was a relationship that he maintained long after he had departed to take on the GM role in Calgary and one that Doan obviously values if he was willing to part ways with the Coyotes organization and join Treliving in Toronto. I'm sure that having Matthews there also helped influence his decision, as Matthews has alluded to the fact that he and Doan remain close as well.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
| POLL | ||
AOUT 31 | 137 ANSWERS Auston Matthews reveals what Shane Doan's level of involvement was in his contract extension negotiations Do you believe that Doan had little to no influence over Matthews' decision to sign a 4-year extension in Toronto? | ||
| Yes | 67 | 48.9 % |
| No | 46 | 33.6 % |
| I'm not sure what to think | 24 | 17.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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