Why Auston Matthews says he ‘can’t predict’ his future with the Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews spoke to media on Thursday for the first time since he suffered a season-ending knee injury on March 12.

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Published Apr 16, 2026  •  Last updated 5 minutes ago  •  5 minute read

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews speaks to the media during locker cleanout day in 2025. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

Auston Matthews loves being the captain of the Maple Leafs.

He said that on Thursday morning at the Ford Performance Centre in his first media availability since Radko Gudas ended his season with a knee-on-knee hit in a game against the Anaheim Ducks on March 12.

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As for looking ahead and what it means for Matthews and the team, he wouldn’t provide certainty.

“I can’t predict the future,” Matthews said. “There’s steps that kind of have to take place, they’re going to hire new leadership and management and stuff like that. I don’t really know.”

And would Matthews be on board with a one-year re-tool?

“I don’t know,” Matthews said. “I don’t know what that means. I think you have to have a more clear understanding of what that means: Retool, rebuild, whatever that is. That’s something that’s going to be up to the new management we end up hiring and go from there.”

In a 10-minute scrum, Matthews was relaxed and didn’t need the use of crutches to walk into the dressing room.

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Matthews was himself, which means there were no fire-and-brimstone statements from the 28-year-old American. Having said that, he took a little more responsibility for the Leafs’ 2025-26 season of failure than he has in the past at season’s end.

“This was a tough year, it was a frustrating year,” Matthews said before queries began. “We didn’t meet the goals or the expectations that we set out at the start.

“Ultimately, that’s on me, that’s on us as players. We’re the ones that have to go out there and compete and play the game and we didn’t do that well enough this year, consistently enough this year, to put ourselves in a better spot.

“We love our fans and we appreciate our fans. We understand their frustration. We wear that alongside them. Everybody here wants to win, wants to do their part to help the team win.

“I love being the captain of this team. I think it’s an incredible honour to wake up every day and wear this jersey. That’s not lost on me, despite the circumstances and the way that this season went.”

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Among the topics Matthews touched on as the Leafs went about conducting exit interviews:

Is this a place you want to be, or would reject any suggestion that you should not be here for the remainder of your contract?

“I think all that stuff, there’s always noise and there’s always chatter. I really don’t pay attention to all that. I just focus on myself, focus on this team and trying to be part of the solution.”

Matthews’ contract expires in two years.

How did you interpret your teammates’ lack of immediate response after the Gudas hit?

“Yeah, it was an unfortunate play. I thought they responded in the third period, but it’s an unfortunate play … I’ll be ready by next season and have a pretty normal summer for the most part. I’m about a month down now (after having surgery on March 19), so it’s a couple more months before I can start to turn it up a little bit.”

What did you think of the hit?

“I think you probably know how I felt about the hit,” Matthews said with a chuckle. “Up until a couple days ago, I just got off crutches. I didn’t think I was going to be standing here today. It’s going well so far. Him reaching out, that’s a personal conversation.”

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Gudas was suspended five games by the NHL.

When you look back at this season, where do you think things went went wrong?

“I don’t know. That’s a more complicated question than I can really answer. The level of consistency that we didn’t play with hurt because I thought we had really good stretches of hockey throughout the year and put together some good games, but the consistency night after night wasn’t there.”

Is it frustrating for you at all that during your 10 years here, this will be your fourth general manager, possibly your fourth coach? That’s a lot of change with the same players at the top.

“I don’t think that’s completely abnormal. You look around the league and look around each individual team, I think there’s always change after each season. There’s 31 teams that go home not happy about how their season went. We take that accountability as players because we’re the ones that have to go out and play. Unfortunately, when we don’t do that well enough and we don’t meet those goals and expectations, people are let go, lose their jobs, and there’s change. I think that’s on us for sure.”

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Is there anything you need to hear, or want to hear from the next GM of the team to have confidence to stay?

“I don’t know if there’s anything specific. I think those conversations are going to be personal and private. We’re not even at that point yet. We’re still in the searching phase, I guess you could say. When the time comes, those conversations will happen organically.”

What’s your relationship with coach Craig Berube and and how you were used this year?

“I have a great relationship with Chief and I have a ton of respect for him. In the end, the coaches make the decisions on how they feel is going to help the team win. As a player, I just try to go out there and execute and play my game, no matter what the situation is or the usage is, my job is to go out there and compete and produce.”

Matthews had 53 points (27 goals and 26 assists) in 60 games, well below expected production from him. If there is a coaching change, the new person will have to find a way to make Matthews an offensive star again.

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Do you still think you can win here?

“I do.”

What gives you that belief?

“I believe in the guys in this room and the people that we have here. We’re going to hire new leadership and management and there’s going to be changes. That’s just the way things go. But I think we’re all hopeful that this is like a one-off. You see it happen to a couple of teams. Boston’s the latest example, but you hope that you can bounce back and be in a better situation than we were this year.”

MLSE CEO and president Keith Pelley said he’s going to lean heavily into AI. Do you understand what he’s talking about or its applications in sports?

“A little bit. I think AI is a big, very vague kind of statement. I think there’s a lot of data that we have now with technology with AI that can be used for a lot of positive things. I’m not sure it’s the answer to everything, but I think there is a lot of things they can do now through that system where it can maybe give you certain advantages in different areas, not just on the ice but off the ice, training, stuff like that.”

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