Maple Leafs Should Issue Ultimatum To Auston Matthews: Insider

Rumors emerging earlier this week out of Toronto indicate that Auston Matthews isn't sure yet if he's down to return to the Maple Leafs for next season. He wants to wait and see what the new management team can do this summer before making a decision on his future.

One thing the captain seems to be forgetting is that he does have two years to run still on his contract with the club. A contract that pays him pretty handsomely, at $13.25 million annually (4th highest in the NHL next season).

But insider Darren Dreger said, flatly, on the Barn Burner podcast on Friday, essentially, forget all that. New GM John Chayka and his right-hand man Mats Sundin should go right down to Arizona and give Matthews an ultimatum:

If you're John Chayka and Mats Sundin, don't you go down to Arizona—very, very soon—and look him in the eye and say, 'Look, we can appreciate that (that Matthews wants to wait and see how the team is shaping up). Our hope is to add some pieces and players, but we're gonna be honest, the free agent market isn't very deep. And we don't necessarily have the assets without further damaging this roster to go out and add a defenceman or two and add the players up front that you think we need to add. So we can't wait for you to make that call in mid-July. We need you to decide if you're in or you're out between now and the Draft (end of June)'.

In addition, Dreger says if Matthews doesn't seem fully committed, the Leafs need to simply go to his camp and say, "'Give us your three teams. Or two teams. You have all the leverage, you have the no-move clause. But we need to have that consideration.' "

He later added on TSN's Overdrive, "If Auston Matthews is fully committed, or Willy Nylander isn't entirely committed, why not consider trading those guys?"

Let's face it, the two years left on Matthews' contract (and it's the exact same situation that's taking place right now with Connor McDavid in Edmonton) is really just one year to make a decision. Because neither team wants to walk their superstar into unrestricted free agency the following season.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Dreger asked, rhetorically. "Both the Maple Leafs and the Oilers are on the clock right now."

As of now, there are no trips planned just yet for Chayka and Matthews to meet. But the new Leafs management team is hoping to do that in the near future.

And even before that, Chayka will be meeting with head coach Craig Berube to decide on his fate. That, says Dreger, is expected to take place on Saturday.