NHL Rumor Roundup: Changes Continue For Maple Leafs, Flyers Not Parting With Michkov
The Maple Leafs fired coach Craig Berube, but questions remain about Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly. Meanwhile, Matvei Michkov's sophomore struggles made him the subject of trade speculation.
Video Transcript
I'm Lyle Richardson of the Hockey News.
In today's NHL Rumor Roundup column, one of the topics I'm looking at is, of course, the ongoing drama that is the Toronto Maple Leafs offseason.
And the changes continued for the Leafs as their new general manager, John Chayka, fired head coach Craig Berube on Wednesday.
Now, before Berube was fired, Sportsnet's Nick Kyprios speculated that perhaps the reason why the Leafs' new management team hadn't made a decision about their coach yet was because they wanted to speak with team captain Auston Matthews first.
Now, Matthews has become a fixture in the rumor mill of late as there's ongoing uncertainty about his future.
He has two years left on his contract, meaning that if he doesn't want to return to the Leafs in the fall, as one pundit has suggested, that he would have to request a trade in order to move on.
Now, it remains to be seen if Matthews intends to request a trade.
It remains to be seen, in fact, if he had anything to do with Berube's firing.
Nevertheless, Kyprios thinks that the Leafs must act quickly to determine Matthews' status going forward, speculating that the longer he remains silent about his future, the more rumors are going to get louder about what his intentions will be.
Meanwhile, TSN's Darren Dreger recently reported that the Maple Leafs could approach Morgan Reilly about waiving his no-movement clause.
Now, Reilly has four more years left on his contract with a cap hit of $7.5 million, and his full no-movement runs through until 2027-28.
Matthews' performance has declined significantly over the last two years.
In fact, his point production this season was his lowest since 2016-17.
Combine that with his contract and his no-movement clause, and the Leafs could have difficulty finding a trade partner unless they're willing to retain salary or package him with a draft pick or prospect.
