Auston Matthews, the rebuilt captain, is ready to lead the rebuilt Maple Leafs back to the playoffs - Toronto Star
There's new talent throughout the roster but it's Matthews who is most likely to determine the Leafs' fate.
As Auston Matthews goes, so go the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kevin McGran writes.
A summertime of recovery, a short training camp, two pre-season games, a trip to Arizona and Auston Matthews is ready to go.
“I feel good,” the Maple Leafs captain said on the eve of Toronto’s opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. “Two pre-season games. Quick camp. A lot of good, positive momentum. I want to get off on the right foot and get going from there.”
That’s good news for Leafs fans because as Matthews goes, so go the Leafs.
“I thought he’s looked great,” general manager John Chayka said of Matthews. “He’s lighter. He’s leaner. He has worked with some of the best people in the world on his rehab, then through his training. That’s paid dividends.
“All of our internal skating data suggests this is the best he’s skated over the last five years. He looks good. He looks healthy.”
Matthews has rehabbed from surgery required after a season-ending knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim’s Radko Gudas. He also worked on other things that have bothered his body (wrist, back) over the years, and he seems to be walking around with a little extra jump to his step.
The first real test of the rebuilt Matthews and the new-look Leafs comes Tuesday night against the Canadiens. The game will include the debut of Russian winger Kirill Marchenko, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets before rosters had to be set at 5 p.m. Monday. Matthew Knies went to Columbus in the six-player deal.
The Leafs’ summer of change has given folks lots to talk about, from a new front office to a new coaching staff to a new “next one” in rookie Gavin McKenna. But the Leafs are Matthews’ team and the only way the team is making it back to the playoffs will be with him leading them there.
The team is built around him: His old friend, Jack Roslovic, was signed as a free agent because of the chemistry they had as teenagers. The Leafs kept experienced players like Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and brought in veterans like goalie Sergei Bobrovksy and defenceman Darren Raddysh when they might have gone younger and into a rebuild after last year’s disastrous result.
Instead, Chayka saw Matthews in his prime, just 29 years old, with two years left on his contract and decided to keep going for it.
“This is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Expectations are high,” Chayka said. “We’re not going to lower standards. We’ve got a good group.”
“Just look around the room and the feel the energy I’ve felt, that I think everybody’s felt,” he said. “We’ve spent a lot of quality time together. In practice, the pace has been great. Guys are skating. Everybody’s on the same page, ready to work and do what’s best for the team, leave it all out there each and every night.”
The team even took a rare long-distance road trip for a few days and a single practice Saturday in Matthews’ home state of Arizona, taking advantage of a six-day gap between their final pre-season game and the opener.
“It was nice to have the guys over,” said Matthews, who hosted a team event at his place in Scottsdale. “I think we had a good time. The guys opened up a little bit. It was nice to get away and spend some extra time together.”
Some might say the Leafs won the summer. They turned the page on the Brad Treliving/Craig Berube era, which leaned toward bigger players and a dump-the-puck approach, and brought in the data-driven Chayka as GM and Jim Hiller, who’ll loosen the reigns, as coach. They signed (Bobrovsky) or traded for (Raddysh and Marchenko) some of the biggest names available. And they got lucky in winning the draft lottery and the right to take McKenna, an addition that has invigorated the lineup.
All that has helped create the energy and optimism Matthews was referencing with McKenna set to make his pro debut.
“I think everybody remembers their first game,” Matthews said. “It’s going to be a great moment for him.”
Matthews, you may remember, scored four goals in his debut, a record for a rookie in his first game.
“I’ve been told many times,” McKenna said of Matthews’ debut. “I have high expectations for myself, but I’m not worried about (Matthews’ record.)
So what does he think is in store for him?
“I actually had a dream two days ago about my first game,” he said. “It went good. So hopefully that’s the case. I’m just excited. It’s the day I’ve been dreaming of for a while now and it’s finally here.”
Notes: Forward Max Domi (surgery) and goalie Elvis Merzlikins (surgery) will start the season on long-term injured reserve. Forward Dakota Joshua will start the year on the injured list.
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Kevin McGran is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Bluesky @kevinmcgran
