The noise around Auston Matthews is no longer limited to trade speculation or frustrated fan reaction. It is now being discussed openly by former NHL players and insiders, following a disastrous 2025–26 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs that ended with the club missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Speaking on TSN’s OverDrive, former Leafs forward Jeff O’Neill questioned whether Matthews is still emotionally invested in the organization.

“I think if any of this stuff is starting to come out from credible people like our Chris Johnston, in my mind … I just think that the player’s already visually kind of mentally left,” O’Neill said. “He wants to leave because this stuff’s not coming out by accident, right?

“So his buddy Mitch is gone, the team stunk last year, he’s been here a long time. He’s had some great memories. He’s no kid anymore. Maybe he just wants to do something different, and that’s fine. That’s totally fine.”

MORE: Auston Matthews emerges as early focus for Maple Leafs’ new GM John Chayka

Those comments followed insider Chris Johnston reporting that Matthews may not be fully committed to staying long-term. Matthews still has a term remaining on his contract through 2027–28, but the discussion has shifted from cap management to organizational direction.

Toronto’s collapse created the perfect environment for this kind of speculation. The Leafs finished 32–36–14, allowed 299 goals, lost seven straight games to close the season, and fired general manager Brad Treliving before elimination became official.

The departure of Mitch Marner to Vegas only deepened the sense that the franchise’s core had reached its limit.

Maple Leafs’ core no longer looks untouchable

For years, Toronto treated Matthews, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly as the foundation of a championship window. Now, analysts are openly debating whether the organization should reset entirely.

O’Neill suggested, “It might be time for both sides, for all of them — Nylander, Matthews, Morgan Rielly — to just say you guys have been great soldiers. You’ve been good people. You’ve had some nice individual stat seasons, but it’s probably time for us to go in a different direction.

“That’s a scenario that I could see happening. I don’t know what that organization down the street thinks of that idea, but it’s definitely something that should and could be in play.”

That opinion would have sounded extreme one year ago. After this season, it sounds realistic. Especially since the group never found playoff success, and in nine playoff appearances, they have just won two rounds.

Matthews’ injury has also changed the conversation. A Grade 3 MCL tear ended his season in March, and Toronto looked directionless without him. Even before the injury, the team struggled defensively and lacked structure away from the puck. Additionally, the Leafs never replaced Marner’s transition playmaking.

MORE: Maple Leafs could solve Mitch Marner departure with Gavin McKenna at No. 1

Winning the NHL Draft lottery changed the Maple Leafs’ timeline

The organization’s outlook shifted again after Toronto won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery and positioned itself to select Gavin McKenna first overall.

On the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast, former NHL winger Paul Bissonnette argued that Matthews leaving would not necessarily cripple the franchise.

“I think that they’re gonna be in a solid spot,” Bissonnette said. “Getting that first overall pick changes everything. If Matthews does decide he wants to leave, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if they stripped it to the ground because the return on even him and Nylander alone, you could build around Cowan, you can build around McKenna, obviously, and then the return you could get.

“If you’re sending those guys out the door, I’d imagine you’re getting three to four first-round picks. Hopefully, they’re high first-round picks, and then probably two to three roster players, including a few prospects.
So you’d get a boatload in return, and then the timeline would match up a little bit.”

MORE: New Maple Leafs GM John Chayka not concerned by external doubts

That is the key point. Toronto suddenly has options. Prospects like Easton Cowan, Matthew Knies, and McKenna (potentially) give the franchise a younger timeline to build around. The rising salary cap also gives management more flexibility than previous Leafs front offices had.

“For the Leafs, going from where their cap’s going to now getting the first overall pick, a lot has changed,” Bissonnette said.

None of this guarantees Matthews wants out. But for the first time in his career, the possibility feels connected to hockey reality instead of offseason drama.

The Leafs are no longer asking whether their core is talented enough. They are asking whether this version of the team has already run its course.

Most introductory press conferences for pro sports front-office officials barely make the news outside the local market.

The introductory press conference for Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka, however, ended up making international headlines, thanks in large part to questions from Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons. The longtime journalist opened the presser with a pointed question for Keith Pelley, the president and CEO of MLSE, about the new hire sitting next to him.

“You talk about the due diligence that you did on John prior to hiring him, and now hiring him. In the past three to four days, I have been in contact with about 20 people who work in the National Hockey League, many of whom are prominent names that we would all know. Of the 20 people I spoke to, one was supportive of his hiring, the other 19 thought it was a sham, to be perfectly honest,” said Simmons. “Words were used like ‘con artist,’ ‘liar,’ ‘salesman.’ “How did you come to a different conclusion than I was able to come to in a very short time?”

“I must’ve talked to different people,” dryly replied Pelley.

“That’s it?” asked Simmons. “Because the hockey world today is astounded by this announcement.”

“Okay,” offered a smiling Pelley.

“And your response to that?” asked Simmons.

“We’ve conducted due diligence, and it was deep due diligence,” Pelley replied. “It was a thorough process, and I am quite happy with where we’ve landed.”

Simmons was far from the only person to register disappointment over the hiring. But on Tuesday, he took to the Toronto Sports Rush podcast, joining E.J. Hradek to explain his tough questioning of the controversial hire.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, you’re used to reactions and explosions and things like that. And yesterday was bigger than I think I could remember experiencing in a very long time,” said Simmons. “But because of the way I sort of tune out social media, I don’t really know that I’m trending, and I don’t really know who’s saying what or who’s saying anything, to be honest.

“And I do my job and I do my work and I do my writing. And that’s what I focus on. And I let everybody else have their say. And I don’t respond very much to what they have to say. Although yesterday, most of the responses that I received, I can’t speak for anything online because I didn’t see it. But personally, either emails, texts, phone calls, I would say was about 90-10 in my favor of the question.”

Simmons added further context to the harsh comments he heard from other NHL figures, saying that many of them had reached out to him directly.

“I asked the question for a reason. Why did you settle on John Chayka?” said Simmons. “If your due diligence was anything like mine, you couldn’t possibly have settled on John Chayka. So that was the reason for the question.

“I didn’t know John Chayka. I didn’t know much about him, to be perfectly honest. You ask one person who knew him, then you ask another person, then you text another person. And then what was happening, strangely enough, is I was getting texts from people that I hadn’t reached out to who were saying, you know, this is what my experience with him was, or this is what happened with me, or this, you know, different things like that.

“These weren’t marginal people, EJ. These were people who have worked in prominent positions or still work in prominent positions in the NHL. And so we’re talking about hockey people whose names anybody who knows hockey would know. And I had a long list of people, and I think I talked to about 20 of them. And there was one person who gave John a glowing recommendation, and there were 19 who didn’t, or 20 who didn’t. I don’t know what the number is exactly, but it was incredibly one-sided.

“And that’s why when he said, ‘We did our due diligence,’ I’d like to know what his due diligence was that was so different from my due diligence. And that’s why I asked the question as I asked it. And I picked the words out, and I don’t like to break confidences in any way, but I picked the words out of emails or texts that I had received from people in the NHL who described him in different words, in different ways. And that’s why I asked the question the way I asked it.”

Simmons would go on to say that “NHL GMs… and major player agents” were among those he was texting with.

Hradek asked Simmons what he thinks of Pelley, who was named MLSE President & CEO in April 2024. While he feels as though they actually have a friendly relationship, Simmons wonders if he’s cut out for the job of overseeing a sizable portfolio of pro sports teams, including the NHL’s Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Raptors, the CFL’s Argonauts, and the MLS’s Toronto FC.

“I almost consider Keith Pelley to be a friend,” said Simmons. “We’ve known each other for so long and been around so many of the same events.

“Keith Pelley has a long history in television and a successful history of television. He is a great guy. I love him sort of as a friend and as a person to hang with, and as someone to have lunch with and someone to talk to. And he’s treated me extraordinarily well over the years. And I think most of the time I’ve treated him extraordinarily well over the years.

“But there comes points where… he has a job to do and I have questions to ask. And that’s where, you know, the uncomfortable nature of Monday came out. And, I just think in this instance, this job might be too big for him. This is a big job.”

There’s a lot riding on the Chayka hire, not just for Pelley but for the Maple Leafs as an organization. It’s going to be fascinating to watch how that goes, not to mention what happens at the next press conference that Simmons attends.

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