Auston Matthews was considering leaving Toronto and the Leafs just gave him the only reason he needs to stay

When Matthews ended up being taken out by Radko Gudas for the rest of the year, the team didn't really give a response worthy enough to justify the crime. No one protected him, and on top of that - he had his worst season ever both as a player and as part of the Maple Leafs.

Nobody can blame him for being frustrated, and word came out recently that Matthews may not be as committal to the team as we first thought, even worrying about his place on the team come next year. It's a stark contrast from what we expected only a couple months ago but when he said his future was murky; he wasn't kidding.

However, there is a glimmer of hope now and the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs somehow managed to pull off the miracle of all miracles has to make Matthews second guess himself.

When Toronto was one simple ball away from being selected, the tension was palpable and we could feel the tension in the room as everyone waited to see what would happen. As the #12 came up through the tube and stunned the hockey world, it led to one question: McKenna or Stenberg?

Well, you could make a case for the latter and his readiness now, however there is no question that McKenna is exactly the piece needed to keep the captain happy now and through 2028.

Matthews stated that he wanted to see 'notable changes made to the roster via trades and free agency', and while there are still a few to be made, if he wanted a notable roster shift then adding the generational winger is probably a great starting point.

Now Matthews gets the playmaker he's been missing, but not only that but someone who can help mentor McKenna and build him into an even bigger superstar than he is projected to be. For someone who was wondering how the team is going to improve - adding a guy with 310 points over his last 180 games should suffice.

The hard part is over, the draft is won. Now, we focus on getting some real bodies into the lineup and proving to Matthews that McKenna is the first piece of much bigger puzzle.

There's a world where Toronto could find a way to bring in Darren Raddysh through free agency and Dougie Hamilton through a trade therefore completely transforming their roster; though they will be paying quite a handsome price.

Alex Tuch is a player who is expected to get a huge bump in pay and if the Maple Leafs wanna stick it to their QEW rivals then poaching him for a huge deal to play alongside his fellow American in Matthews is a good choice.

Matthews also needs to know that the team has confidence in him that regardless of injury concerns, he can be reliable and effective once again. If they are on the fence about his fit, that's only going to cause a rift that could widen if the team fails again.

Toronto has a few moves they can make to get names off their roster too and we may see Anthony Stolarz, Nick Robertson, Matias Maccelli, Simon Benoit, Brandon Carlo, and Steven Lorentz all dealt away as part of the transformation of the team.

Whatever moves the team makes it has to prove to the captain they are not only going to get them back to competitiveness, but also appease what he wants in a lineup to maximize his impact once again.

It's a tightrope that John Chayka and company need to walk across, though luckily they have a McKenna-sized pole to help balance things out.

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