Auston Matthews: Kyle Dubas’ departure casts doubt on his future

It’s decision time for the Leafs. We’re still waiting to hear who will be the team’s next general manager, and the man who gets the chance to replace Kyle Dubas will have some big, big choices to make this summer.

At his last press conference, Dubas made it clear that he would not hesitate to listen to offers for his top players. By sending the message that there are no untouchables in the line-up, he was opening the door to huge changes in the Toronto line-up…

But now he’s out of a job. Will his replacement have the same vision? That’s the question on everyone’s mind right now.

We know that among the players likely to leave the organization, the name of Auston Matthews is popular because the American will play the final year of his contract in 2023-2024.

The Leafs could decide to trade him before he escapes in the summer of 2024, and the idea has been gaining ground in recent days.

In his podcast, Elliotte Friedman said that a Leafs player had texted him saying he wasn’t sure Matthews would have extended his contract before July 1 even if Dubas was still the general manager.

Why not? Mainly because of all the potential lineup changes to come.

This same player also confided that he was confident the Leafs would handle the situation as the Bruins did with David Pastrnak this year. Boston took a risk in waiting before offering him a contract extension, since the organization thought he wanted to stay in town…

And in the end, it worked, as Pasta decided to sign an eight-year contract binding him to the team until the end of the 2030-2031 season.

We should also point out that Matthews has reiterated his desire to play for the Leafs for the long term…

But the whole situation is unclear at the moment because of all the uncertainty hanging over the organization.

Yikes. Let’s just say it’s still pretty nebulous in the end.

If we can agree on one thing, it’s that the future of the man who scored 60 goals in Toronto’s 2021-2022 season is more uncertain than ever.

It seems that the chances of him leaving by way of transaction or on the free agent market are great, almost enormous…

Even if the player has said he wants to stay in town.

The issue has been the talk of the town for the past few weeks, and will remain so until we get the answers to our questions.

Breaking news

– Interesting stuff.

– He was good. Very good.

– Hmmmm .

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– Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) May 22, 2023

– The Brock Purdy rule!