Don Cherry on Auston Matthews' contract And nagging injury

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Tyler Ball
September 4, 2023 (11:53 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have made headlines in the NHL in recent weeks after signing Auston Matthews to a contract extension. Many mixed opinions have come in on the deal.

Today we got to hear from a prominent former hockey analyst on his thoughts about Matthews and his new contract.

On his podcast the Don Cherry's Grapevine show Don Cherry spoke about Auston Matthews and his recent contract extension. His first impression was a good one when the numbers were revealed to him. He spoke on a wide variety of topics in connection to Matthews' contract.

The first topic he approached was the constant rumors that Auston Matthews was going to sign with the Arizona Coyotes. Cherry took a shot at the Coyotes while talking about why Matthews did not decide to try and sign in Arizona.

I don't think they could afford him in Arizona right now. Not with 5,000 people (in the arena)

He then moved on to talking about needing to have success in the playoffs for the contract to be worth it. He used this year's regular season domination by the Boston Bruins as an example.

The Boston Bruins will be known for the rest of their lives as the team that tore the league apart and died in the playoffs.

Then Cherry continued down the path of the Leafs needing to have playoff success. Cherry is adamant that regular season success is meaningless for Auston Matthews at this point

It doesn't mean anything if they win 7-1. If they beat some team that comes in once a year and he gets three goals it doesn't mean a thing. It's in the playoffs that counts only playoffs.

Cherry shares the same thoughts as many of the Toronto Maple Leafs fans at this point. Regular-season statistics are cool but don't matter in the grand scheme of things. The Maple Leafs are built to win Stanley Cups and anything less is disappointment.

When talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff run in 2023 Cherry brought up an interesting theory.

I think he was hurt in the playoffs. I think his wrist was bothering him.

Cherry goes on to say he believes this severely hindered Matthews' performance in the playoffs. He also wonders if anything will linger into the upcoming regular season.

Finally Cherry talks about the pressure that comes with playing in Toronto. He is amazed by how Matthews is able to handle the pressure and not let it affect him.

He's got an awful lot of pressure on him. He doesn't really seem to mind it though.

Cherry's comments overall are very complimentary of Auston Matthews. It will be interesting going forward if Cherry changes his tune based on Matthews' play during the 2023-24 season and playoffs.