TSN’s Hockey Insiders on Auston Matthews’ end-of-season media availability, takeaways from Toronto’s locker cleanout day, if Matthew Schaefer, Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard could all go to the Worlds, the Jets’ off-season and the Kraken expected to be aggressive for help up front.
GINO REDA: The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season is over and the speculation about the direction they’re headed and who’s going to be around can now begin in earnest.
With the Insiders, Chris Johnston and Darren Dreger. C.J., you were there for the Leafs’ locker cleanout. What did you take away from what the captain had to say?
CHRIS JOHNSTON: The most important thing that he said didn’t get nearly the coverage of what he didn’t say. That is that he believes the Maple Leafs can bounce back, that this can be a one-off season where they miss the playoffs and they can return to being a competitive team the way they have been really since Auston Matthews got to Toronto.
Of course, he didn’t come out and say outright, ‘I will be a Leaf, I want to be a Leaf, I’ll be here forever no matter what.’ I think Matthews, rightfully, is going to take his time to basically evaluate and see what happens at the top of the organization with the front office, what hirings are made, and what the plan is.
But I do think it’s been maybe taken and twisted a little bit too much elsewhere in terms of his intentions, because at this point, he’s headed back to Arizona. He’s rehabbing his knee injury after that hit from Radko Gudas and the subsequent surgery.
I do believe he does see a future for himself in Toronto, but he doesn’t want to say too much until he gets a better understanding of where the organization is at.
DARREN DREGER: Yeah, I think that’s accurate. I would take it a step further. There’s a resolve, there’s a sense of belief, at least that’s what came out of the exit meetings, from the nucleus, the players for the Toronto Maple Leafs who believe that the turnaround of this organization may not take as long as many of us think it will.
They think with the addition of a couple of forwards, guys with bite, some dogs who are willing to drag the group into the fight, and more importantly, some puck-moving defencemen - two would be great - added to the blue line that they can get real competitive real fast in time for next season. But they’re also going to need Matthews, William Nylander, and their top players to be better, obviously, than they were this season.
REDA: Now the Leafs and the rosters of 15 other non-playoff teams have become available for the Worlds in Zurich next month, that means some pretty solid talent is available for Canada in particular, C.J.
JOHNSTON: Absolutely, and that includes the three number one picks from the last three years. The dream scenario, of course, for Hockey Canada would be getting all three of those guys being Matthew Schaefer, Macklin Celebrini, and Connor Bedard to come over to the Worlds.
What this Worlds represents after the Milan Olympics is a chance to begin the next Olympic cycle, start working towards 2030. Of course, we expect all those players to be important parts of that team. But at this point, we’ll just have to wait to see where they land with these guys.
Let’s take them one by one. Schaefer does seem as though he is willing to go to the Worlds. I think that this is something that he views as an opportunity. He hasn’t played yet for Canada at the pro level in a national team jersey.
It’s a little different for Celebrini. He was at the Olympics, he was at the Worlds last year. He’s played a lot of hockey. No decision yet from him, but it may be a little less likely in his case.
And Connor Bedard, he’s undecided at this point. It’s important to note, though, with his situation that he does need a new contract this summer. And sometimes players in that situation want to be cautious. Obviously, there’s insurance and other considerations because of the risk of playing without a contract.
But from Hockey Canada’s standpoint, they’d love to bring all three of them over to Switzerland.
REDA: There’s a lot of Winnipeg Jets available. At this time last year, the Jets finished with the best record in the league and locked up the Presidents’ Trophy. Now they’re going to finish in the bottom-third of the league.
What do you see happening with this organization during the off-season, Dregs?
DREGER: Well, potentially a lot. It’s been a tough season for everyone who wears the logo of the Jets from ownership all the way down. There’s no doubt about that, given their recent history of success in the regular season. I expect it’s going to be a busy offseason for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.
Maybe it starts with Jonathan Toews. There’s no clear view of what he might do in terms of his playing future and his playing future in Winnipeg. So they’re going to have to sort through that.
Cole Perfetti is a developing top young forward. So he’s in need of a contract, he’s a restricted free agent. And then on top of that, there could be and should be some shopping for the Jets.
They’d like to add a No. 2 centre, and if they can add a top six-winger, now all of a sudden you’ve got two real good strong lines and that puts them in a much better position to return to form for next regular season.
REDA: Speaking of struggling teams in the West, Ron Francis has already stepped down as president of hockey ops for the Seattle Kraken. What’s next out there, Dregs?
DREGER: Well, it’s been a frustrating few weeks to the conclusion of the regular season for the Kraken. What they’d like to do, what general manager Jason Botterill is hoping to do, is add some forwards.
In a perfect world, there’d be guys with some credentials of putting the puck in the net, a history of scoring at the NHL level. Everybody seems to want that. One or two to take some of the heat off of Shane Wright and Berkly Catton. These are two young forwards that are still very much in the development stage.
I think there’s work to get done in Seattle. There’s certainly pressure to get something done. And don’t forget Bobby McMann, acquired from the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline. He’s a priority to get signed as well.
REDA: They are the Insiders, Darren Dreger and Chris Johnston.
