{"id":153579,"date":"2025-09-19T04:26:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T04:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/153579\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T04:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T04:26:14","slug":"nhl-news-auston-matthews-maple-leafs-reportedly-holding-on-to-connor-mcdavid-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/153579\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL News: Auston Matthews’ Maple Leafs reportedly holding on to Connor\u00a0McDavid\u00a0dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Days, weeks, and months have gone by, but Connor McDavid is still unsigned through the upcoming NHL season. As long as things stay the same, Auston Matthews<\/a> and the Toronto Maple Leafs can\u2019t be bothered to let go of their dream. Perhaps, it\u2019s utopic, but the Buds aren\u2019t losing hope.<\/p>\n

The odds of McDavid<\/a> leaving the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are slim but never nonexistent. They could be erased very easily, though\u2014all it would take is his signature on a stack of papers. Still, there are no signs of that happening anytime soon. <\/p>\n

With each passing day, the Leafs<\/a>\u2019 hope of signing McDavid only grows. After Marner\u2019s trade, perhaps the best way to help Matthews and company is by bringing in another Ontarian star. McDavid would satisfy that need\u2014and then some.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a day that goes by that the Leafs front office isn\u2019t internally wondering, I wonder what\u2019s happening with Connor McDavid and the Oilers, just like fifteen other teams,\u201d as reported by TSN\u2019s Pierre LeBrun.<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

Connor McDavid during NHL Media Day ahead of the regular season<\/p>\n

Aim at the moon<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely McDavid will ask for a trade out of Edmonton during the 2025-26 NHL<\/a> season. It\u2019s even more improbable he\u2019ll depart for Toronto. After years of speculation around him in Alberta, moving to Ontario would be a jump out of the frying pan into the fire.<\/p>\n

\"NHL<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

NHL News: Amid extension suspense, Connor McDavid issues encouraging message on first glance at Oilers ahead of crucial season<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, the NHL is a crazy world, and one can never tell what might happen next. Regardless, if McDavid does somehow become an unrestricted free agent, the Leafs will be among a long list of candidates\u2014more specifically, a list made up of 31 clubs. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the childhood dream pitch on its own is enough to convince McDavid. But the Oilers\u2019 captain wants to play somewhere he can win, and right now it isn\u2019t clear Toronto is better off than Edmonton in the Stanley Cup sweepstakes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs will be keeping a close eye on McDavid and the drama surrounding the Oilers. However, the show must go on in the meantime. On that note, Matthews and the Buds are still waiting for a definite answer on the top line\u2019s composition. <\/p>\n

\"Auston<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews on February 03, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario.<\/p>\n

If the first practice of Toronto\u2019s training camp is any hint, Matias Maccelli is the favorite to join Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on the first line. Head coach Craig Berube voiced an honest message on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts one day. I think he\u2019s in the process of feeling things out, and he gets thrown on a line with Matthews and Knies\u2026 it\u2019s a big step. He is a guy that can make plays, we know that. So, that\u2019s going to be a big part of it all,\u201d Berube admitted to reporters.<\/p>\n

SurveyIf McDavid does leave Edmonton, where should he go?<\/p>\n

If McDavid does leave Edmonton, where should he go?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s making the right plays and the right decisions with the puck. Is he getting Matthews the puck enough? It\u2019s about him playing a 200-feet game, too. That line\u2019s going to play against good lines, so he needs to be solid defensively, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Days, weeks, and months have gone by, but Connor McDavid is still unsigned through the upcoming NHL season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,2368,63,18672,3275,575,85,2370],"class_list":["post-153579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-auston-matthews","tag-australia","tag-connor-mcdavid","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}