Auston Matthews fires back at those critical of his team.

We are only 6 games into the regular season but in spite of that there are already many fans in Toronto that are panicking over the current state of their beloved Maple Leafs. The Leafs have come out of the gate with a 2 - 3 - 1 start to the season, managing to collect just 5 of a possible 12 points through their first 6 games, and the criticism has come pouring in.

As you would expect Toronto's top stars have been receiving the brunt of that criticism, and that has been especially true this time around given some of their individual performances thus far this season. Star forward Mitch Marner managed to pick up only a single point through 6 games, and that was an assist, but he does have 4 penalty minutes to his name and has earned a plus minus rating of -3 over that stretch. 

Star forward Auston Matthews has not fared any better since returning from offseason wrist surgery. Matthews has appeared in 3 games for the Leafs this season and has yet to find any points, goals or assists, and although he has avoided the penalty box he boasts a plus minus rating of -2 through those 3 games.

I genuinely believe that no one is happy about this start. The players most certainly don't want to be forced to deal with wave after wave of criticism this season, but unfortunately for them that is the way things are trending at this moment.

On Monday, Matthews responded to those that have been critical of the Maple Leafs thus far by claiming that the team would remain unphased by the noise coming from the outside.

"The noise and the panic on the outside can’t shake us," said Matthews on Monday.

While I know that many will be quick to say that the team already looks shaky enough already, there are some positives here from Matthews. The fact that the Toronto superstar remains confident in spite of his team struggling, and in spite of his own struggles since his return, is exactly what you want to hear from one of the leaders on the team.