Auston Matthews “Asking Out” Is Suddenly Being Presumed in Toronto

For the first time in his career, some of the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase have started to turn on Auston Matthews. It had always been Mitch Marner as the whipping boy, taking flak for his playoff performance, or William Nylander scrutinized for inconsistent effort, or even John Tavares for making $11 million to no fault of his own.

Now, with Marner gone, Nylander unlikely to change, and Tavares at 35 making $4.38 million, all eyes are on Matthews to carry the team. While it’s still early in the Marner-less Maple Leafs experiment, those early returns haven’t been promising, especially for the captain. Through 27 games, he’s produced 23 points (14 goals, nine assists), leaving many to question his health and overall effectiveness.

The frustration around Matthews and the Maple Leafs reached a boiling point 49 minutes into Tuesday night’s game against Chicago, with fans booing to express their discontent. That seemed to be the spark they needed, as the superstar center went on to tally an assist and eventually the game-tying goal, helping Toronto secure a 3-2 win.

While some of Leafs Nation are right back on the bandwagon after the comeback, others aren’t getting too excited for a narrow victory over a Connor Bedard-less Blackhawks. Maple Leafs reporter Howard Berger certainly falls into the latter camp, and on Thursday, he took to X (formerly Twitter) with some sharp criticism of the captain, imploring that the team won’t go anywhere until he leaves town.

**Author’s Note:

Berger is not an insider. He doesn’t cover the team from inside the locker room or have access to players or agents who would know Matthews’ particular situation. He’s an opinionated columnist, mostly known for his hot takes.

Berger wrote:

“Nick Kypreos tried to put a positive spin on Auston Matthews in the Star today. But, there’s nothing left. The #Leafs won’t move forward until he asks out of town. Which will happen, possibly by the trade deadline. Good regular-season player. Mediocre when it matters. Team and captain are overdue for change,”

The 28-year-old Matthews is in the second year of the four-year, $53 million extension he signed with the Maple Leafs back in 2023.

Criticism of Auston Matthews Is Getting Out of Hand

Matthews himself would admit that his play hasn’t been at the level he’s accustomed to over the past year and a half, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been effective.

Even while clearly not at 100 percent, the five-time All-Star is producing around a point per game and pacing for 43 goals. It’s not the 69-goal, 107-point season he once posted, but it’s still impressive considering the wear and tear that has impacted his shot velocity and skating speed this year in particular.

That said, there’s no question that Matthews and the Maple Leafs need to do everything possible to get him back to full health, because their hope of being true Stanley Cup contenders depends on it.

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