Auston Matthews says Toronto still feels like home, even after the Maple Leafs limped through a season nobody in that room wants back.
In comments making the rounds this week, Matthews didn't hedge on where he stands with the organization.
"This is home, I've formed so many great relationships here, not just throughout the organization, but outside of that as well," Matthews said.
He kept going, framing the culture shift around him as something he's chosen to embrace rather than tolerate.
"You talk to other guys that come from different places, different teams, and they come here, and it's obviously different," Matthews said. "It's different in a lot of great ways, and I think if you embrace that, it can be a lot of fun. So that's what I try to do."
Nice sentiment. Tougher backdrop.
Toronto finished 32-36-14, good for 78 points and a 28th overall ranking leaguewide, with a minus-46 goal differential that tells its own story.
Matthews carries a $13.25 million price tag into an uncertain offseason
The Maple Leafs didn't just miss the mark, they cratered down the stretch, dropping seven straight to close the year and going 2-7-1 over their final ten games.
That's not a slump. That's a team that stopped competing when it mattered most.
Matthews, for his part, still produced. He posted 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points across 60 games, playing through whatever kept him off the ice for the other 22.
His cap hit sits at $13,250,000, the second-highest figure in the entire NHL behind only Leon Draisaitl.
Head coach Jim Hiller inherits a roster built around a $13 million centerman who says all the right things publicly while the standings say something very different.
Loyalty is easy to talk about in July. It gets tested in March, when a team is watching the postseason from the outside looking in and the microphones come back out.
Matthews sounds like a guy who wants to be part of the solution in Toronto. Whether the front office builds him one is a different question entirely, and it's not one this quote answers.
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Do you believe Auston Matthews when he says Toronto is still home?
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