Pierre McGuire tears down Maple Leafs to praise Auston Matthews.

Veteran National Hockey League analyst Pierre Mcguire has always been a very polarizing figure in the sport of hockey with fans seemingly loving or hating McGuire's brand of analysis, and with very few finding themselves somewhere in the middle.

This week McGuire shared a hot take that is likely to earn him a few detractors in the city of Toronto, with McGuire letting slip what he really thinks of this current iteration of the Maple Leafs during a conversation about Auston Matthews.

McGuire made the comments during a recent episode of his podcast alongside Boston Bruins reporter Jimmy Murphy, with the comments being made during a discussion about Auston Matthews and his chances of winning the Hart Trophy this season.

"If Auston Matthews wasn't playing for Toronto they would not be in the playoffs right now," said McGuire matter of factly. "They would be in trouble."

Although McGuire was critical of the Maple Leafs roster as a whole, it is clear that he believes Matthews to be among the truly elite players in the league. McGuire would go on to add that there is no question Matthews should be considered for the Hart, but added that there was fierce competition for the award around the league.

"To say he's an MVP candidate is easy to do," admitted McGuire. "To say he's a lead pipe cinch to win is hard to do."

McGuire brought up Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid as an obvious contender for the award as well as Colorado Avalanche star forward Nathan MacKinnon, although added that there are no doubt other names worthy of consideration this season.

You can check out McGuire's comments in the short clip below: