{"id":508984,"date":"2026-03-02T06:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T06:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/508984\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T06:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T06:58:08","slug":"friedman-drops-massive-update-on-auston-matthews-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/508984\/","title":{"rendered":"Friedman drops massive update on Auston Matthews trade rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t  &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/647006.webp.webp\" style=\"width:100%;\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Jan 31, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) celebrates his game winning shootout goal against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images\" title=\"Jan 31, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) celebrates his game winning shootout goal against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube and captain Auston Matthews are officially silencing the massive trade speculation right now.<\/p>\n<p>The trade deadline is fast approaching. The entire organization is completely crumbling under the weight of massive expectations.<\/p>\n<p>With exactly 63 points accumulated through 60 overall appearances, the roster is actively sinking straight out of the Eastern Conference wildcard picture.<\/p>\n<p>Rumors recently swirled that the superstar center wanted out of town. But insider Elliotte Friedman officially cleared the air during his latest report.<\/p>\n<p>Management has absolutely no intention of trading their franchise cornerstone or William Nylander before the final buzzer sounds on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Before the recent Olympic break, the front office reached out directly to the player&#8217;s camp. They asked if a sudden organizational step back would cause a major rift.<\/p>\n<p>\u00abIf we take a step back, are we going to have a problem with that?\u00bb and Auston and his team told them no. &#8211; Elliotte Friedman<\/p>\n<p>Matthews-Nylander to stay in Toronto<\/p>\n<p>Over his NHL career, the 28-year-old skater has repeatedly proven his loyalty. His representatives explicitly said no, cementing his commitment to the city.<\/p>\n<p>With 26 goals already in the bank this season, he completely drives the play. You do not ship out elite talent like that.<\/p>\n<p>But general manager Brad Treliving is officially shifting his entire strategy. This recent ugly stretch of games forces his hand.<\/p>\n<p>They are no longer exclusively shopping pending free agents. The front office is officially listening to offers on players with longer contract terms.<\/p>\n<p>Opposing executives are free to pitch creative ideas. If a deal clears significant salary and brings back top-tier prospects, Treliving will absolutely listen.<\/p>\n<p>The deadline clock is ticking incredibly loud. Expect major roster changes soon, but the core superstars are staying exactly where they are.<\/p>\n<p>Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily<\/p>\n<p>POLL<\/p>\n<p>6 HOURS AGO|206 ANSWERS<\/p>\n<p>Friedman drops massive update on Auston Matthews trade rumors<\/p>\n<p>Do you think keeping Auston Matthews is the right move for the Toronto Maple Leafs?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube and captain Auston&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[13156,49,48,21687,30439,448,19120,82,746,8458],"class_list":["post-508984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-auston-matthews","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-craig-berube","tag-elliotte-friedman","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-trade-deadline","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-william-nylander"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}