Insider Elliotte Friedman hints at Matthews’ future in Toronto and fans get concerned

On Thursday night, Auston Matthews became the fourth Toronto Maple Leafs player to score 50 goals in a season.
The 24-year-old star forward scored his 50th into an empty net against the Winnipeg Jets in his 62nd game of 2021-22.
The Leafs defeated the Jets 7-3 and the post-game party was dedicated for Matthews.

And while the accomplishment is phenomenal, right before the game started, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman hinted at Matthews’ future in Toronto and got fans worried. In his latest 32 Thoughts column, Friedman wrote a quick entry on Matthews that read:

“I think Auston Matthews re-signs in Toronto — as long as he believes in the direction of the team.”

The contract comes to an end in 2025, so there’s plenty of time for Matthews to figure how good the future looks in Toronto, but we can understand why Friedman points to the young player considering all options when the deal is done.

The Maple Leafs will need to prove to Matthews that they can be a playoff contender. It’s been many rough years of postseason for Matthews, who was drafted first overall by the Leafs in 2016. The Maple Leafs keep coming up short in spectacular fashion in the postseason and we could understand why Matthews would have enough. There is definitely a feeling that a significant shakeup could happen this summer should things not work out yet again results in Toronto heading into the playoffs this year.

We’re pretty sure that’s what Friedman means by “direction of the team.” There’s been plenty of talks in the past that Matthews could be tempted to return home to Arizona to play for the Coyotes, but there is no way with how the team is doing and being run that he would make that move.

We could see him shop for a playoff contender, a real strong one with money, who could make the move of the summer 2025 and sign Matthews to a monster contract at the opening of free agency.

But we can’t say right now. Only Friedman can have fans doubt with one of his many thoughts…