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Analyst Says No Toronto Maple Leaf Should Be Seen as Untouchable

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Jackson Weber | Last updated Feb 28, 2026 9:27 AM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to start making some changes. Moving pending UFAs like Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton or veterans such as Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Nicolas Roy is all well and good, but the 2025–26 season has made it clear that the change needs to go deeper than that.

This core group of players consistently couldn’t get it done in the playoffs, and now, in year one without Mitch Marner, they won’t even be sniffing the postseason altogether — so it’s time to shake things up. As a result, everyone has been talking about who should be seen as untouchable moving forward, though one analyst believes there shouldn’t even be such a list.

Craig Button of TSN was asked about it on Friday and made it clear that not even superstars Auston Matthews and William Nylander should be considered off-limits in Toronto.

Button said:

“That would be nobody, simply put. It’s not to say that you’re going to trade every single player, but where the Leafs find themselves is really simple, and the reality is really clear: you’re not a contender, you’re not close to being a contender, you’re not going to be a contender next year… So even if you think about Matthews and Nylander, if you ask yourself the serious question, can we be a contender next year? Can we be a contender the year after? You may have to open up your mind to Auston Matthews, you may have to open up your mind to William Nylander,”

The 28-year-old Matthews is in year two of the four-year, $53 million extension signed with the Maple Leafs in 2023, while Nylander, 29, is in the second year of the eight-year, $92 million deal he signed to extend in Toronto in 2024.

Both Matthews and Nylander have had rather productive offensive seasons — 50 points (26 goals, 24 assists) and 54 points (18 goals, 36 assists) across 53 and 42 games, respectively — though their overall play and production have been more up-and-down than in years past.

Neither player is going anywhere before the March 6 deadline, but Button is right: the Maple Leafs need to start laying the groundwork for what could come this summer and in the years to follow. It’s clearly not working as-is, and the possibility of Matthews leaving for an American market will become very real if they don’t get off to a strong start in 2026–27.

Extending Matthews beyond his current contract would be ideal and should be the priority — before the Olympics, it appeared he still wanted to stay. That said, in case he changes his mind, the front office needs to have a backup plan ready for how they would handle the situation.

Moving Nylander, on the other hand, could be worth a closer look. He’s unbelievably talented — one of the most skilled players in the world — but his deficiencies can be maddening. If the Maple Leafs truly want to shake up their group, they’ll need to trade something of value to get something of value back. Nylander is certainly a player who could fetch that kind of return, making it, at the very least, worth exploring.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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