NHL analyst Steve Dangle believes the Toronto Maple Leafs should explore the trade market for captain Auston Matthews this summer.
Matthews was selected first overall in 2016 and has been the face of the franchise since then. However, Toronto has just won two playoff series and is on the verge of another early playoff exit.
Following the Maple Leafs’ 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5, Dangle believes Toronto should look to trade Matthews.
“He’s under contract. Someone gives you an offer for Matthews, do you take it?,” Dangle said on SDPN.
His co-host, Adam Wylde, felt like it could be something Toronto entertains.
“How far do you want the rebuild to go? I guess you could get a king’s ransom,” Wydle added.
Although trading Matthews would likely signal a rebuild from Toronto, Dangle doesn’t care. Instead, he believes this current core can’t win and can’t deal with the pressure.
“Rebuilding from what? It’s not hard to rebuild a sand castle. I will say that, if the Leafs have to go through a couple of years of pain (by trading Matthews), as opposed to what?”
Matthews has three years left on his four-year, $53 million deal. Although he has a full no-movement clause, perhaps both sides agree that moving on is best for both parties.
Matthews has yet to score a goal in five games in the second round.
Maple Leafs Captain Says He Needs to be Better
After the 6-1 loss in game 1, Matthews called out himself and the entire team.
Toronto is down 3-2 in the series and will need to win back-to-back games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. After the blowout loss, Matthews called out himself and the entire team, saying they need to be better.
“I mean, I don’t think we gave them much reason to stick around,” Matthews said. “I think everybody’s gotta look in the mirror, myself included. Everybody wants to be better. Everybody wants to obviously win.”
Matthews has yet to score in this series, but he believes he does more on the ice than scoring. However, Matthews knows he has to start shooting more and getting the puck in the net.
“ I don’t look at myself as a one-dimensional player if I’m not scoring,” Matthews said. “ I’m trying to do all the other little things that make the team successful, that make myself successful, and just try to be an all-around complete player. So I’m gonna continue to push and try to score obviously, and keep shooting. But all the other little details of my game, I want to do it at a high level as well.”
Matthews had 33 goals in 67 games this season.
Maple Leafs Turn Focus to Game 6
Toronto now goes on the road to play the Panthers in Game 6 on May 16.
Despite being blown out in Game 5, Matthews has full confidence in himself and the group that they can rebound and get the win.
“ We’ve been a great team all season long,” Matthews said. “ There’s always gonna be belief in this group and the confidence in this group from what we built out throughout the year. So we gotta go into this game with confidence, and it’s gotta be our best game of the year.”
Game 6 is set for May 16 at 8 p.m. ET in Florida.
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