Sportsnet tells reporters not to criticize Leafs GM hiring or talk about Auston Matthews leaving

Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled new GM John Chayka to a... ahem... lukewarm response from the team's fanbase.

To his credit, Chayka said all the right things and answered every question addressed to him. He talked about rebuilding the team's culture, restructuring their roster and ultimately woo'ing team captain Auston Matthews to stick around long-term.

Today, the team's captain says he isn't sure he's on board.

According to a report from NHL insider Chris Johnston, Matthews says he "isn't sure" that he'll return to Toronto for next season. This, despite having two more years left on his contract.

From Johnston's report for The Athletic today:

"Matthews has two years remaining on his contract, but still isn’t sure if he’ll be back in Toronto in the fall, according to league sources."

Yikes...

The sad truth is though that the Leafs HAD to have seen this coming.

Canadian fans have seen an exodus of top American talent in recent years with Matthew Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes both abandoning their teams. Perhaps the writing was on the wall last offseason though with Mitch Marner ditching Toronto at the first opportunity.

With a likely rebuild on the way and with Matthews in the prime of his career, do you really blame the guy for having second thoughts? Whatever the case, it's on Chayka, Mats Sundin and the new look Leafs' front-office to build a team around him worth sticking around for.

“We’re going to get together in the next couple weeks and spend some time,” Chayka said about Matthews after Monday’s introductory news conference. “I think Auston deserves some answers about where we’re at and where we’re headed, and (I’ll) give him a forum to provide feedback and ask questions and then take it from there.”

But, Matthews' potential departure isn't the only news bomb that Johnston dropped today. On his own podcast today Johnston reported that Sportsnet's parent company Rogers, who also owns the Leafs, has pressured its reporters to "not be critical of the team or talk about Matthews leaving.

From The Chris Johnston Show earlier today:

I worked at Rogers Sportsnet for 8 years, and I know of multiple [former] colleagues that felt a new pressure to not be critical of the team or talk about Matthews leaving, or have received calls from upper management warning them against criticizing the search process.

Johnston's full thoughts on the matter:

Go figure that a broadcaster owning a team would lead to crap coverage of said team? Who could have seen that coming...

The Leafs are absolutely cooked...