Auston Matthews handed John Chayka a public endorsement Tuesday, and the Maple Leafs captain sounded fine with how many faces changed.
The comments came in a one on one with Ryan Leslie on the team's own YouTube channel. Terry Koshan pushed the quote out to his followers.
Matthews said he is really happy with what they did through the summer, that new faces and change are inevitable, and that there is a lot more turnover this year than in the past.
He called it exciting. Which is one word for it.
Because the group he is describing finished 32-36-14 and ranked 28th in the league.
They gave up 299 goals, or 3.6 every night. No amount of new sweaters in the room changes arithmetic like that.
The ending was worse than the record. Seven straight losses to close out the year, the last one 3-1 in Ottawa.
Auston Matthews makes bold John Chayka statement after Maple Leafs overhaul
That is the number that should make people in Toronto pause. A 37 year old goaltender at eight figures after posting 20 wins in 52 games.
Anthony Stolarz is the other option at $2.5 million, coming off a .893 mark across 26 appearances. Not exactly a safety net.
The one clearly good piece of business was on the blue line. Darren Raddysh is on the books at $975,000 after a 70 point season at plus-21.
Emil Andrae is the quiet one. A plus-15 rating over 61 games at $903,334 is the kind of contract that buys a front office room to breathe.
Then the forward depth, which is where the spin gets thick. Colton Sissons put up 11 points at minus-11 and Nick Paul managed 15 while sitting at -15.
Teddy Blueger chipped in 17 points with three shorthanded goals. Brandon Duhaime dressed for all 82 and finished with nine points.
Is that depth, or just volume?
Jack Roslovic is the one addition with obvious teeth. Thirty six points and five game winners is real production for $1.5 million.
The health chart is already messy. Max Domi is out until at least November 3 with a back issue, and Chris Tanev, Dakota Joshua and Zack MacEwen are all questionable for the opener.
The reporting also lays out the real reason for all of it. Matthews has two seasons left, and almost nothing Chayka brought in runs past that window.
Signing a veteran goaltender to a $10 million ticket after that save percentage is like buying the extended warranty on a car you already know rattles.
Gavin McKenna will get the cameras and the headlines in October. Jim Hiller gets everything else, and a captain's approval rating has a very short shelf life in that building.
Source : Auston Matthews likes what he sees from John Chayka so far
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