Auston Matthews has US connections that could be the real reason his Maple Leafs tenure ends
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Auston Matthews has a lot of American friends playing in Utah and some are starting to question if that connection is going to lead to him leaving the Maple Leafs.
With Wednesday focused on the firing of Craig Berube, it's a focal point of the Maple Leafs offseason plan that was dealt with way sooner than later. Only a couple weeks after some uncertainty, John Chayka pulled the trigger and now the search begins for a new bench boss.
But now that leaves Auston Matthews as the top priority to figure out, and with him essentially handcuffing the team to a summertime deadline to get things sorted; Chayka and his crew have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks.
Though with the captain wanting to see action as opposed to hearing more grand promises, the firing of Berube was a good start but they still need to build a team around Matthews, and if Chayka brings in the right people it could lead Matthews to stick around.
Or it could really not matter whatsoever.
Matthews grew up in Arizona and a lot of the friendships he made moved to Utah after relocation
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos wrote about Matthews potentially wanting to get out of Toronto and finding his way to Utah of all places, stating his inner circle believes the close friendship he has with some players is a critical factor:
Speculation in my inner circle has the Utah Mammoth watching this situation, as they have a few of Matthews' close friends on their roster, including Clayton Keller.
In addition to Keller, you also have Logan Cooley, Nick Schmaltz, Nate Schmidt, and John Marino among others who are all American-born players and guys who Matthews is familiar with; Keller and Matthews played together in 2014-15 as part of the USHL U-18 team.
While Utah isn't exactly the flashiest destination to head for a player of Matthews' calibre, he does have a strong connection to his American roots and with such a US-heavy contingent on the Mammoth he would fit right at home.
When you've grown up and played and hung out with a lot of the guys who are all currently on the same team, then you may start to feel a bit left out; and with how Utah has turned things around this year they could be just an Auston Matthews away from contending.
Utah has the financial flexibility and young core to make the Matthews trade work
Utah is going to have to pay quite a bit for Matthews if they want him though he certainly would be their franchise face to build upon in addition to guys like Keller and Cooley and have a fair amount of free agents they can bypass in order to pay for #34.
But in terms of what Toronto would be getting back in terms of trade value, here's a potential deal we could see:
To Utah:
(C) Auston Matthews
2026 2nd Round Pick (BUF)
2026 2nd Round Pick (BUF)
To Toronto:
Matthews becomes the #1 centre in Utah and the finishing piece alongside Keller, but the Maple Leafs don't come away empty handed whatsoever.
First off, getting Guenther is an absolute steal considering he's someone who just had 40 goals and 73 points at only 23 years old. Alongside Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna; he's a perfect rebuilding piece.
Then we get Hayton, someone who instantly comes in to replace John Tavares as the 2C while also providing Toronto much more youth. His offensive game can give you 15-20 goals, and he's a great face-off taker, plus again he's only 25.
Desnoyers is your true Matthews replacement and it allows the Mammoth to keep their hands on Tij Iginla. Desnoyers is a 19-year old playmaking phenom who projects to be a monster on the power-play.
Keeping that in mind, here's how a lineup with these guys in Toronto could look like:
Knies - Desnoyers - McKenna
Guenther - Hayton - Nylander
Cowan - Tavares - Robertson
Lorentz - Haymes - Domi
Guenther - Hayton - Nylander
Cowan - Tavares - Robertson
Lorentz - Haymes - Domi
That first line alone could have 75-80 points from each player consistently, meanwhile that second line has two 40-goal scorers and a young centre more than capable of feeding them the puck.
The third line is one that is quite interesting as you have Cowan and Robertson flanking Tavares and hopefully covering for his lack of foot speed and they are more than solid defensively (yes, even Robertson).
If Toronto truly wants to go in a different direction this summer, they have a chance to do so but only by trading their captain. But considering he may want to go play with his buddies, the team can actually find themselves coming away with more than just a consolation prize.
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