MAJOR | Reporter believes the Maple Leafs will be pulling the trade of the century this summer
The Maple Leafs knew they would be in a tough spot when they signed their superstar Auston Matthews to a 5-year deal granting him the right of hitting free agency with full autonomy fairly early in his career.
Perhaps Dubas is already well aware that it will be happening with the way he went out as a buyer on the trade market. Auston Matthews only has 4 months before his no-movement-clause and final year of the $58.2M deal he signed in 2019. Fair to say that once we come to July 1st, the Leafs no longer have control over Matthews' future and they would be risking losing a franchise talent for potentially nothing.
Andy Strickland and Cam Janssen discussed the hot topic today. On their end, the only question remaining is, who's going to step up and trade for Auston Matthews this summer? To them, it's obvious that the Dubas and the Leafs can't let him go for anything:
Matthews is an Arizona native and the latest report suggested that he'd want to continue his career at home once his deal with the Leafs ended.
If Matthews were to be traded, it would possibly end up being the trade of the century probably the biggest trade we've seen since Eric Lindros and the Nordiques. It sure looks similar to the situation the Flames just lived with Matthew Tkachuk, but now we're talking about a guy who could be fetching the biggest contract ever seen once it comes to an end.
It's hard to imagine the Leafs would consider trading the guy they picked with the 1st Overall Pick in 2016. Could you imagine what a team would have to give in order to get Matthews in a trade?
| POLL | ||
Will the Leafs end up trading Auston Matthews? | ||
| Yes | 558 | 47.4 % |
| No | 619 | 52.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
