Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Halpern, McKenna

Maple Leafs GM John Chayka met with reporters today at the NHL Combine (video link).  Among the topics discussed was the future of Auston Matthews amid speculation that he might not be ready to commit to signing another deal with the franchise.  As expected, Chayka certainly tried to downplay that speculation, suggesting that things are promising on that front:

We’ve had several conversations with him and his representatives. What I saw was a happy captain. Someone who’s got a lot of pride to be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Someone who wants to win in Toronto, which aligns with how we’re thinking about it.

Matthews has two seasons remaining on his contract, one that briefly was an NHL record in terms of AAV at $13.25MM (and has since been surpassed multiple times).  The captain has seen his production drop in each of the last two years after a career-best 69 goals and 107 points.  This season, he had just 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 games, the lowest goal and assist totals of his 10-year NHL career.

More from Toronto:

• During his presser today, Chayka indicated that he spoke to many candidates with only some moving on to the next stage. One who won’t be doing so is Jeff Halpern.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Halpern did interview with the Maple Leafs for the role but isn’t moving to the next stage.  Halpern has been coaching in Tampa Bay’s organization since 2015-16, spending three seasons as an AHL assistant and has been up with the Lightning as an assistant with them since 2018-19.
• Chayka also noted that, as things stand, the likeliest outcome is that Toronto holds and uses the number one selection this month which should come as little surprise. One of the likely players to be selected there is Penn State forward Gavin McKenna.  He met with reporters today, including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, and indicated that he’d feel “pretty fortunate” to go there, given that they’re a team that’s likely eyeing a return to the playoffs next season, an outcome that most top picks don’t get to see.  McKenna and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg are viewed as the two likeliest options to go first overall on June 26th.