Leafs’ Chayka on Matthews: ‘It’s our job to sell him’ on team’s long-term plan

TORONTO – Among the many questions surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs amidst a change in management, one of the biggest pertains to captain Auston Matthews.

With the Leafs coming off a disappointing season by missing the playoffs for the first time in Matthews’ career, there’s plenty of uncertainty to his future with the team. Those questions escalated a bit more during the Leafs’ locker room cleanout last month when he spoke vaguely on whether he wants to stick with the team through a retool or rebuild.

So as the Leafs introduced their next general manager in John Chayka during a press conference on Monday, there were plenty of questions regarding not just what the plan is to turn the Leafs around, but also whether or not Matthews is going to be a part of it.

“We’re going to get together in the next couple of weeks, spend some time,” Chayka said during a scrum after the press conference. “I think he deserves some answers about where we’re at and where we’re headed and give him a forum to provide feedback and ask questions, and then take it from there. But I don’t really have a timeline today.”

The Leafs finished the 2025-26 season well out of the playoff picture, with their 32-36-14 record being the fifth-worst in the league, well below the expectations of a Leafs’ team with their star players, most notably Matthews, in the primes of their career.

“It is our job to sell him on what we’re capable of and reaching the ultimate goal, because I know that that’s what’s most important to him,” Chayka said. “And how do we do that? It’s not a sales job, I’d say. It’s more of ‘what’s the vision, what’s the plan’, and concrete steps that we’re going to take to try to get the team to where he wants to be. We share that same common goal.”

Matthews is coming off of a disappointing season himself, one where he had just 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points in 60 games. It’s the first time in his career he hasn’t scored at least 30 goals in a season and is the first time he’s produced under a point-per-game pace since his rookie season in 2016-17.

“He’s one of the top goal scorers [of the] last decade, if not the top goal scorer. He’s a 200-foot centerman, plays the game the right way,” Chayka said. “I just came from an organization where we spent our entire existence looking for that exact player. So we’re incredibly fortunate to have Auston.”