The Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery and will select first overall in this upcoming June’s draft. However, that stroke of pure luck isn’t going to immediately smooth over the club’s current biggest question mark: the status of captain Auston Matthews.
Matthews has made it clear that he is unsure if he wants to be back in Toronto next season, and the team’s big lottery win is reportedly not set to change that. Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman spoke about the situation and Matthew’s expected stance on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast on Wednesday.
“People are going to ask, ‘Does this change anything for Matthews?’ and I don’t think it does at this point,” Friedman said. “I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: I believe that Auston Matthews is going to ask the Maple Leafs to sit down with him and say not only what is your plan, but how are you actually going to execute the plan.
“If they can do that to him, I think everything works out. Even if he likes the plan, if he’s not actually convinced they can act on it, that’s where the problem will be. That is the key here. But this is a step. There is no question about that. A very big step, but I still think there’s going to have to be some convincing done here, because this player alone is not going to completely change the fortunes of the franchise.”
Just a day ahead of the lottery, the Maple Leafs welcomed in a new era of management, introducing new general manager John Chayka and senior executive advisor Mats Sundin. The two, alongside team president Keith Pelley, will be the main forces expected to try to convince Matthews that the franchise is headed in a positive direction.
Matthews missed the playoffs for the first time with the Maple Leafs this past year. The 28-year-old centerman posted just 53 points (27g, 26a) in 60 games for Toronto, the worst point-per-game rate (0.88) of his 10-year career outside of his rookie 2016-17 campaign (0.84).
The beginning of the 2026-27 season will mark the start of a two-year countdown on Matthews’s contract, as he is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July of 2028. He has a full no-movement clause in his current deal, which pays him $13.25 million against the salary cap.
With the first-overall draft pick, the Maple Leafs will have their pick between the consensus top two prospects in the draft class, wingers Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg. Both are expected to be ready for NHL action as soon as next season.
