I have to wonder if Brad Treliving, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ new general manager (GM), feels like he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. He has to feel he’s in a tough spot with Auston Matthews.
His past experience suggests that he (and the Maple Leafs’ franchise) could get burned – and badly. Treliving went through a challenging situation with Johnny Gaudreau, a former Calgary Flames player who walked away from the team as a free agent without the Flames receiving any compensation. If it were me, I wouldn’t forget. And, I’d probably be ready for action. He’d be ignorant if he were not.
The Pressures Involved in Re-Signing Matthews Long Term
While Gaudreau is a really good player, he isn’t Matthews. There’s even more pressure to get it right with the face of the Maple Leafs.
There’s also the pressure to get Matthews to sign a long-term contract with the team. The word is that Treliving and the Maple Leafs are pushing to get him re-signed before July 1. Such a contract would alleviate concerns about him for the foreseeable future.
At the very least, they would like to have Matthews re-sign for a medium term. The issue is to get something done sooner rather than later.
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The bottom line, and one that would offer a collective organizational exhale, would be to settle the contract negotiations and put any uncertainties or speculation to rest.
Matthews Wants to Stay in Toronto, But He Doesn’t Feel the Same Pressure to Act
Matthews, for his part, is saying all the right things. His timeline is more open-ended because he suffers none of the risks associated with losing him for nothing. He couldn’t be more clear that his intention is to stay with the Maple Leafs. He’s also suggested that he desires to sign before the season starts. But he has to feel no particular squeeze to do so.
In fact, assuming that Matthews really is committed to this organization, there’s a bit of an ironic pressure on him if he does sign. Looking at the situation from that perspective and from his point of view, there are potential pressures on Matthews if he decides to re-sign with the Maple Leafs.
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As a highly valued player, Matthews might experience pressures that could come from meeting team expectations, both in terms of performance and financial considerations. He also might feel the pressure of aligning his personal goals with the team’s future direction.
In Toronto, there are also external factors of media scrutiny and fan expectations. As my THW colleague Jim Parsons wrote in a recent post, a certain segment of Maple Leafs’ fans would really like to see Matthews moved.
We can’t know the specific pressures Matthews might feel or how much they might weigh on him; however, to simply say he doesn’t feel pressure ignores what I’ve learned about the complexity of human behaviour. What I do believe is that from Matthews’ perspective – particularly if he’s committed to this organization – those pressures also likely contribute to the complexities involved in contract negotiations for him.
The point is that there is pressure on everyone involved.
Matthews Does Not Face the Same Timeline
In all these regards, and given our knowledge as fans, Matthews has set no particular timeline nor specified any definitive date or deadline for reaching an agreement for a contract extension. This lack of clarity does not carry the same weight for him as it does for Treliving.
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However, it does create uncertainty for the team and complicates contract negotiations. In that, the Maple Leafs have much to fear with a delayed signing. Even if they meet all of Matthews’ demands in terms of contract and term, there’s a concern that he might still choose not to agree to sign immediately.
If Matthews hesitated, it could leave the team in an uncomfortable position of having done everything they could to accommodate him but still not reaching a resolution.
I Can’t Believe Matthews Would Secretly Walk to Free Agency
The biggest concern is the potential of Matthews walking to free agency – just as Gaudreau did with Calgary. It would be devastating for the Maple Leafs to find themselves in a situation where he walks away from the team without compensation.
From a practical sense, losing a player of Matthews’ calibre without a return would be a significant blow to the franchise. If that happened, the reputation of the organization would likely also suffer.
I believe Matthews won’t go down this road, but then Treliving believed the same in Calgary. Matthews understands the situation the organization is in. I also can’t imagine there’s any sense of ill will or context for him to be passive-aggressive in his actions toward the franchise. He won’t hold a gun to the team’s head to force any issues.
I believe that if he truly wanted to move on from Toronto as has been rumoured toward the US west coast – a team such as the Los Angeles Kings – he would make it known to the organization. But I could be wrong.
Could Matthews’ Lack of Action Spur Treliving to Quick Action?
Yet, even if there’s no ill will in Matthews’ behaviour, he isn’t feeling the same pressure the organization is. While this is the worst-case scenario, might he inadvertently put the organization in a bind where they feel compelled to act against their interests to keep him by unloading him for whatever he might bring?
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If that were the case, Matthews and his team might be wise to put themselves in Treliving’s shoes. The combination of Treliving’s past experience, the organization’s desire to secure a long-term deal, the uncertain timeline set by Matthews, and the potential risk of losing him to free agency all create an uncomfortable situation for the Maple Leafs’ GM.
It could also create a potential situation of risk for Matthews if he really does wish to stay in Toronto as he’s said. I have no idea of Treliving’s state of mind or his current propensity to rush to action. But the pragmatist in me would want to move on from Matthews while I could if I felt he forced my hand by putting me in an untenable situation.
It’s Not the First Time People Have Been in an Uncomfortable Situation
As I was considering the difficulty of this situation, I was reminded of an Old Testament story from the Bible. A passage in Isaiah 28:20 states, “For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.”
This passage is part of a larger story where the prophet Isaiah uses metaphors and imagery to describe the future of the people of Israel. The metaphor of trying to sleep in a too-short bed with a blanket that doesn’t quite cover suggests just how uncomfortable a situation can become.
I have to wonder if Maple Leafs GM Treliving is feeling that sort of discomfort in his dealing with Matthews.