Auston Matthews puts pressure on Maple Leafs to make a trade!
The captain commented on the ongoing moves around the league and wonders when Toronto will pull the trigger. See what he had to say down below:
The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have been working the phones and have made trades before the deadline comes on Friday. Just earlier today, the Bolts acquired forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde from the Seattle Kraken. Earlier this week, the Panthers landed defenseman Seth Jones and today went after goalie Vitek Vanecek of the San Jose Sharks, following the Spencer Knight trade to Chicago in return for Jones.
In the meantime, Toronto is still looking at possible moves before the deadline. And Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews commented on the situation, putting some pressure on management to add some key pieces for a long playoff run.
“This time of year, you see teams adding, and you want to add as well,” Matthews said to reporters. “So I’m sure management and staff are doing a lot of thinking right now, doing a lot of homework and stuff like that, and I’ll leave it in their hands.”
You can only imagine how he felt after today’s trade in Tampa and Florida, especially since the Maple Leafs had also been linked to Gourde in the past.
“You look at our division in particular, it’s obviously very tight,” Matthews also said. “Management is going to do the best they can. All we can do is trust in them.”
Time is running out though. Let’s see if Matthews’ added pressure will convince general manager Brad Treliving to strike a deal before 3ET pm on Friday.
