Breaking: NHL insiders debunk absurd Matthews rumor!

It may have been a satire piece of journalism by Howard Berger, but it got Toronto Maple Leafs fans going on Thursday night. He published an outlandish report regarding superstar forward Auston Matthews and his future of the Leafs, and it did not take long for it to go viral. 

After all, the Maple Leafs are 4-0 without Matthews in the lineup...

Berger of Between the Post claimed that an "executive source" close to general manager Lou Lamoriello has informed him that the Leafs will look to move Matthews if they continue to win in his absence. 

“If we win again, we’ll look to move him,” said the source as per Berger. “There are too many challenges with the salary cap in the next few years to keep a player without whom we can win. Matthews will cost us a fortune in the summer of 2019. Better to see if we can get some prospects or high [draft] picks for him now. You never want to risk that a player might sustain a career–threatening injury. Our entire management group agrees that if we win again tonight and improve to 4–0 without Auston, it’ll be time to look for a trade.”

Though there was a note at the end of his article stating this was a satire piece, TSN's Breakfast Club addressed the issue this morning by explaining why Matthews is so important to the Leafs. 

Bruce Arthur and Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star provided strong arguments to give peace to Leafs fans and debunk the absurd rumor. 

"You see the trickled down effect of Matthews being out of the lineup: look at Nazem Kadri's numbers now that he has to be the number one guy with the toughest matchups, and the guy that has to be way more out there minutes wise," added Feschuk. "His possessions with Matthews I think was around the 52% range, because he was the second line guy. Without Matthews these past four games, it's down in the 40%."

"They're just not as good without Matthews because he takes so much attention from the opposing defense, so when other guys go out there, they look better." 

"He is a monster player," said Arthur. "Watch this team without him. It's not just that other teams are trying to slow them down, and mess it up in the neutral zone...Matthews moves the play so much in positive directions, without him, a lot of these guys can't do that, they just can't."

Though the Maple Leafs could benefit from adding a quality defenseman to the roster, we highly doubt, along with this TSN panel that they will use Matthews as trade bait.