Auston Matthews wants to stay in Toronto. The catch, according to David Pagnotta, is that the Maple Leafs have to keep winning.
Pagnotta made the comments Tuesday morning on Leafs Morning Take, and the wording matters. Everything he's heard, from the player and his camp, points to staying put.
Then came the condition. “If this team is going to keep winning or is on the trajectory to winning, then he wants to be part of it.”
Read that twice. It's a loyalty pledge with an escape clause stapled to the back.
Now look at the standings. Toronto sits sixth in the Atlantic at 4-4-2, with a -1 goal differential through 10 games.
So is this team on a winning trajectory? Right now, it looks more like a coin flip than a climb.
None of it falls on him. He has 16 points in 10 games, which means he's been in on exactly half of Toronto's 32 goals.
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John Tavares injury leaves Matthews carrying the Leafs alone
And the help just got thinner. John Tavares is on IR with a lower-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 27.
Monday night against San Jose, the American logged 20:57 and finished with a goal and two assists. The Leafs needed every bit of it in a 3-1 win.
Over his last five games, he's piled up 10 points. Half of them were goals.
The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Gavin McKenna, all of 18, buried the power-play winner Monday, but William Nylander has gone minus-4 on the season.
Then there's the money. Toronto carries $13.25 million for Matthews, the eighth-highest cap hit in the league, plus another $11.5 million for Nylander.
It's like telling your partner you're all in, as long as the house stays nice and the bills get paid. Sweet, and completely conditional.
And frankly, he's right to say it. A franchise forward shouldn't sign up to burn his prime on a team stuck at .500 in points percentage.
Jim Hiller, hired in June, now owns that trajectory. Every lineup call he makes gets graded against one question: does this look like a winner?
The test starts tonight. Toronto plays the second half of a back-to-back in Columbus, against a 3-4-0 Blue Jackets team it hasn't faced yet this season.
After that, the Rangers visit Thursday before a four-game road trip through Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle and Vancouver.
Ten games in, Matthews has held up his end. Nobody in Toronto can say yet whether the team around him will.
Would you trade Auston Matthews if the Leafs are still a .500 team by Christmas?
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