Maple Leafs Fans Concerned After Auston Matthews' Latest Comments

A lot of the talk last season surrounded whether or not Auston Matthews was 100% given that he had a career-low in goals, and only skated in 67 games. He tried his best to be that dominant force, but admitted he wasn't healthy since the start of the year, and even went to Germany to get a second opinion.

However he seems ready to give it all he has in 2025-26 and looks to be at or near 100% and recently took the ice in order to prepare, and he seems confident he's able to keep the Maple Leafs afloat in the wake of losing Mitch Marner.

Recently, Matthews opened up about his goals for the upcoming season and at the forefront of things was trying to earn a gold medal with the United States in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Speaking to NHL.com, Matthews explained he was focused on representing his country in addition to helping the Maple Leafs; and sounded confident he was healthy:

Again, leave it to Matthews to be coy about his status as to not give anything away, but it really doesn't seem like it sparks the most confident in the Maple Leafs fanbase, who were less than thrilled about things.

Social media was full of comments from the Leafs faithful who were hoping that Matthews was a bit more transparent and that it sounds like he could have some genuine issues still:

Suffice to say, Matthews isn't stoking the confidence flames as much as we had all hoped, and though it could be strategic; it still gets frustrating.

We had a lot of "day-to-day" concerns last year that turned into nightmare scenarios for the team, and while it's great to gauge things on a daily basis, at what point do you stop things outright and say "Go get surgery."

Does Toronto win the Atlantic if Matthews misses the season? There's precedent to say that they would have been just fine, and fantastic seasons from John Tavares, William Nylander and Matthews Knies all helped get them there even with Matthews' 78 points.

If this season is going to be more of the same where we hear that players are out day-to-day, turning into week-to-week or month-to-month then we can almost guarantee that Matthews is dealing with his ailments still.

Which isn't a good thing for Toronto, who needs everyone to be healthy but none so more than their captain.