Maple Leafs $53M Star The Most Traded Player Trending On PuckPedia

The holiday break can’t come soon enough for Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs. A three-game road trip through Washington, Nashville, and Dallas couldn’t have gone much worse, dropping all three contests in regulation, in turn crushing the team’s confidence.

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It comes immediately after a 5-1-2 stretch that briefly brought optimism back to Leafs Nation, but that feels like a distant memory now, given how quickly things have unraveled over the past few days.

There’s not just one single problem you can pinpoint in Toronto right now, though the struggles of their top players stand out above everything else — especially Matthews. The captain has looked off all season, and this recent stretch has been his worst yet: pointless in four of the past five games while being a -7 in the process

What’s most concerning is that the eye test matches the numbers. Matthews has often been unnoticeable, rarely touching the puck, and clearly uncomfortable when he does get it. Questions about what’s wrong with the two-time 60-goal scorer have become the biggest storyline in Toronto, and confusion has started to turn into real frustration.

That frustration is evident among the fan base, with Matthews currently trending as the most traded player on PuckPedia — a telling sign of how fed up they are with the on-ice product.

Through 30 games, the 28-year-old sits at 23 points (14 goals, nine assists), marking the lowest points-per-game pace of his NHL career, although we should account for the relatively small sample size.

Would The Maple Leafs Actually Consider Trading Auston Matthews?

It’s hard to fathom that we’ve reached a point where trading Matthews is even a discussion, yet here we are.

On the surface, the idea of moving a superstar center in the middle of his prime feels like a massive overreaction. At the same time, Maple Leafs fans are as knowledgeable and invested as any fan base in the league, and they wouldn’t be entertaining something this drastic without reason.

Something is clearly off with the former Hart Trophy winner. The 2024-25 season was disappointing by his standards, but it looks far better compared to what we’ve seen so far in 2025-26. If there truly is a lingering or chronic issue that’s limiting his ability to skate and shoot the way he once did, then at least exploring the market to see what kind of return he could bring back isn’t the worst idea.

Plenty of teams around the NHL would be frothing at the mouth for the opportunity to buy low on Matthews’ stock and try to get him back on track. Ultimately, it’s up to Brad Treliving and the Maple Leafs’ front office to figure out what’s been hindering the face of their franchise—because the team’s direction hinges on it.

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