For the first time in the Auston Matthews era, the Toronto Maple Leafs were sellers at the trade deadline, experiencing a new feeling and realization.
TORONTO - One day following the NHL trade deadline, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and head coach Craig Berube reacted to the team’s departures.
Leafs GM Brad Treliving had shipped out centers Nicolas Roy and Scott Laughton, as well as left winger Bobby McMann, leading up to the deadline.
“It’s a tough day losing teammates,” Berube said at morning skate, ahead of Toronto’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“They all meant something. They all had a part and a role. The three guys that we lost I thought played pretty well this year… we’re going to miss them for sure.”
Roy was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, while McMann and Laughton were moved to the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings, respectively, on Friday’s deadline.
Berube noted that they lost two great penalty killers in Roy and Laughton, while he admitted that McMann was having another great offensive season for them.
Matthews was asked about the impact of Laughton and McMann, the two teammates he knew the longest of the three.
“Laughty fit in right away, the Leafs’ center said. “He was only here for a year… an incredible guy. And Bobby… had a long journey and a long path to get to where he is now, but an incredible guy and an incredible teammate.”
The Maple Leafs haven’t experienced being a selling team at the trade deadline in several years. In fact, since Matthews was drafted in the summer of 2016, Toronto has never missed the post-season.
So how are they handling this new feeling?
“There’s always a lot of noise, but I thought guys handled it as professionally as well as they could,” Matthews said.
“It’s not ideal, and it’s not fun. It’s never fun losing and being in this position and situation, but you have to take responsibility; it’s obviously on the players. You kind of lay in the bed you make.”
Ekman-Larsson spoke about the whirlwind of emotions he had leading up to the trade deadline. He had sat out a couple of games for roster management purposes, suggesting he was likely to be shopped or draw interest from other teams.
However, in the end, he wasn’t traded and remains in Toronto, which was his preference all along.
“Obviously, a relief and I was happy,” Ekman-Larsson said.
“I still believe in this group, I think we can do something special, and it obviously it hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but I still like the pieces that we have and I still believe in us,” he said, explaining why he wants to remain a Maple Leaf.
With that, he expressed how happy his family is to stay in Toronto, and still believes that they can turn the ship around next season.
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