Auston Matthews has stayed completely silent since the season ended and Maple Leafs fans should notice that

If you were to sum up the 2025-26 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, it would be a dismal failure. Going from Atlantic Division champs to the basement is not something you would expect from such a high-powered team but some bad luck and even worse performances gave way to a rough year.

There's a lot to look forward to for next season though, as there are going to be a lot of changes coming not only in the front office, but behind the bench and in the lineup and we know that William Nylander is more than thrilled about what's to come.

But there's someone pretty important who has been dead silent since the end of the year: Auston Matthews.

Beyond his appearance at the final home game of the season to hand out some season's tickets, Matthews has only given one statement since the end of the year; the locker room clean out. He was noncommittal and basically said 'It's outta my hands' with regard to his future and it's getting concerning.

Yes, Matthews is someone who typically stays pretty quiet and away from the social media spotlight but he never gave a confident answer. When he said that his future is in the hands of management, it doesn't bode well for where he'll stand come next year and beyond, and he's looking bad compared to his teammates.

It's not a popularity contest but William Nylander came out and publicly backed the team and his teammates while stating he was excited to see what next year brought for himself, the team, and the fans.

It shows that he at least cares, and despite not having an active social media presence — he can still try and sound like he's wanting to be here. If he doesn't get along with the new crew coming in then it's all but assured he's headed out of town.

There's always been a few questions and concerns about whether or not Matthews is captain material and while there's no denying his talent and marketability; there's a reason John Tavares was for so long and Dion Phaneuf and Mats Sundin before him — they loved the team.

Matthews has not indicated otherwise but his silence is surely speaking volumes. It would behoove him to be a little bit more vocal when it comes to trying to spark optimism for the fans, but if he's not 100% behind the team while doing it — he's just peddling falsehoods.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Matthews and Nylander went to management with a specific demand and every Leafs fan needs to hear it