Auston Matthews unhappiness is only coming from two reporters and Leafs fans should read that very carefully
Photo credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
There's been a lot of news about Auston Matthews being noncommittal to Toronto, but the fact it has only been two guys with the information - it's raising eyebrows.
Unless you've been completely away from social media or sports news over the last couple of weeks, no doubt you'll have seen that Auston Matthews is having a bit of a difficult time deciding if he wants to stick with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the rest of his career.
He wants to see change and unless the team does some other big moves as opposed to just drafting Gavin McKenna and hoping for the best, it's likely that Matthews is headed out the door.
It's genuinely surprising to see such a turnaround considering that only a few weeks ago he was completely on board with things as long as it wasn't a rebuild, and from the looks of it; that's not the direction the team is going.
Fans are raising eyebrows over the Auston Matthews reporting as of late
It's even more interesting to some fans that it seems like the only names who are reporting Matthews' unhappiness seem to be the same faces over and over: Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston.
Granted, both men are well respected and trustworthy journalists - some of the most trusted in the entire industry. But some are getting a little suspect that it's only these two insiders giving this information, and not everyone around Toronto hockey media:
It's being speculated that anywhere from Matthews' camp, to disgruntled ex (or soon to be) employees, to other GMs who want to seriously push some buttons. But with nothing confirmed and tinfoil hats on, fans are having a field day.
Other names around the league like Darren Dreger have stated that Matthews isn't looking for an out, and is more than happy to wait and see what the team is going to present. It's almost like the decisions have been made for him.
Why would Auston Matthews leak his own unhappiness with the Maple Leafs?
That, or Matthews actually trusts these guys with that important tidbit of information and wants to make sure that it's reported as transparently as possible. Johnston wrote an entire expose on the Maple Leafs front office and completely tore them apart.
If there's anyone who is going to give the information as straight as an arrow it's Johnston and with Maple Leafs fans desperate for transparency, it's more than likely that whatever his word is has more than a few inklings of truth behind it.
It's a bargaining tactic too. If he can use that leverage of his unhappiness as a way to kickstart the Maple Leafs retool then it not only benefits him but also the entire team (hopefully long-term).
Or, if he's trying to get out of town, he can use it as a way to give them the ultimatum that unless the team is competitive and makes the playoffs - he walks.
We've seen it before albeit in much different circumstances. Patrick Roy had nine goals scored against him and then flat out told the Montreal Canadiens he would never play for them again. He was shortly traded to the Colorado Avalanche and won a Stanley Cup.
So what's to stop Matthews from leaving the game halfway through if he's tired of how the team is doing? It's hard to believe he didn't when the team did nothing as he laid on the ice after tearing his MCL.
So if there's some odd conspiracy behind why Chris Johnston and Elliotte Friedman are the only ones reporting unhappiness just think about who'd be the biggest culprit - Matthews himself.
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