Reporter drops a bombshell quote about Auston Matthews wanting to play in the States
Next off-season, the Leafs will be tasked with kickstarting negotiations and hopefully signing Auston Matthews to a long term contract extension. The money will not be an issue for the Leafs, as TJ Brodie and Jake Muzzin will be off the books and the cap is supposed to jump $10+M the season his extension would kick in. There is no doubt the Leafs will hand him a blank cheque to make him a career Leaf.
However, today on Sportsnet590 radio, Sportsnet reporter Eric Francis said went on a bit of a tangent about the potential of Matthews following suit with Johnny Gaudreau and, presumably, Matthew Tkachuk in wanting to play in a US-based city to be closer to home and to avoid cross-border travel.
Warmer weather closer to friends, no more border. The COVID border issue was a big issue with a lot of players. I think he's gonna want to go where there's more exposure, where you can make a bigger impact on the game as an American.
And don't forget guys, after next season, he goes into his final year with a no movement clause. No trade clause. So the Leafs are going to probably want to find out before next season starts if Matthews is interested in signing a long-term extension and if he's not, the Leafs may be in the exact same position as the Calgary players right now.
Now the Leafs, because they're so damn good and so damn close in so many people's eyes - they may be willing to play the final year of Auston Matthews' contract with him, you know, clearly walking to free agency and getting nothing for him. They may be willing to do that, but that's going to be huge discussion on your airwaves for a long, long time."
-Eric Francis on Auston Matthews potentially headed to free agency in a couple of years
I'm not knocking on Eric here for throwing the idea out there, as he pointed out farther into his appearance, he had been saying Gaudreau and Tkachuk were going to leave Calgary.. but to say Matthews wants to go somewhere where there is more exposure when he plays in the biggest hockey market in the world is asinine. The Leafs will have to sit down to understand where Matthews it at at the end of next season but that is still 10 months away. At that point, the Leafs will either have him earmarked for an extension as soon as the window to extend him opens or trade him for an unprecedented return at the draft.
We're two years away from his potential free agency date and if anything is going to make him want to leave, it's the media that will be asking questions about his contract and extension when he isn't even eligible to sign one yet. So everyone just calm down and enjoy another 60+ goal season from the league MVP.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 20 | 721 ANSWERS Reporter drops a bombshell quote about Auston Matthews wanting to play in the States Do you believe that Matthews wants out of Toronto? | ||
| Not a chance | 235 | 32.6 % |
| He might | 281 | 39 % |
| He definitely wants out | 83 | 11.5 % |
| He'll retire as a Leaf | 122 | 16.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
