Auston Matthews accused of bullying Maple Leafs staff.

The season has not gone the way the Toronto Maple Leafs had envisioned coming into the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season, and now the fingers of blame are being pointed in the direction of certain individuals on the team.

The main focus of criticism at this time appears to be Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews, who was heavily criticized by fans over the weekend after he did not appear for media both before and after what many considered to be the biggest game of the season. On Sunday morning things got even worse for Matthews when accusations of bullying were levied against the Maple Leafs captain.

Those accusations come from controversial Toronto columnist Steve Simmons, who made some serious accusations about Matthews in his most recent column. From Simmons:

The Maple Leafs are internally bullied by their captain, Auston Matthews, who seems to have little concept of what a captain in the National Hockey League should be.

According to Simmons' report, the Maple Leafs did not make the decision to keep Matthews away from the media ahead of his clash against former longtime teammate Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights, with that decision instead coming directly from the captain himself. Furthermore he goes on to suggest that this is a result of Matthews being babied since arriving in Toronto, with Simmons even suggesting that the relationship between player and members of the team's staff is not as it should be.

Perhaps the most damning comment however came regarding Matthews qualifications as the Maple Leafs captain. Again from Simmons:

Many Leafs — management, coaches and players — will tell you that Matthews is a terrific captain. They say that with a straight face. But from both the inside and the outside, there seems little evidence to support that belief.

Do you agree that Matthews has failed to live up to expectations as Maple Leafs captain? Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments.