Report: Matthews accused of tampering at the All-Star Game

Oh boy… Leafs fans get ready. Things could get interesting.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Report: Matthews accused of tampering at the All-Star Game
Zuma Press

Toronto Maple Leafs fans have a bit of a reputation for jumping the gun. You can’t really blame them… it’s in their nature. But whenever a star player with roots in the city or the province of Ontario becomes available, either on the trade market or free-agency, it seems like every Leafs fan within 100 miles of Lake Ontario has already come to the conclusion that the player will end up in Toronto. 

Steven Stamkos headed to free-agency? Surely, he’ll be a Leaf. John Tavares? Naturally. How about London, Ontario native Drew Doughty? Sure… him too! All kidding aside, this is all part of the fan experience. Hockey fans love to play the role of “armchair GM” and make the moves that their real-world counterparts refuse to make. But, rarely do these fan prophecies actually happen. In fact, if a player or GM were to talk about pending free-agents the way in which fans do, there’d have an expensive tampering suit on their hands. And such may be the case with Leafs forward Auston Matthews

According to multiple reports, Matthews was actively “recruiting” pending free-agents Drew Dougthy and Erik Karlsson this weekend at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game.



Wow… the Leafs’ media should have a field day with this! What’s your take? An overreaction from those who claim Matthews committed tampering? Or, is there an argument to be made that Matthews crossed a line? 

No doubt the NHL will review what was said during the discussions, but don’t hold your breath on any meaningful penalty or suspension. After all, the hockey world is a small community and this wouldn’t be the first time that players talked to each other off the record about their future plans. Still, if either Doughty or Karlsson end up signing with the Leafs in the summer of 2019, you can BET that Los Angeles Kings fans and Ottawa Senators fans will be calling for Matthews’ head!