Maple Leafs GM John Chayka’s Auston Matthews mic drop on Craig Berube firing

The Toronto Maple Leafs new general manager, John Chayka, has made his first big move in his new role. The Maple Leafs have fired head coach Craig Berube. Now, the team will have plenty of decisions ahead of them, including the next head coach and the first pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The team also has to look at the future of Auston Matthews, and Chayka is speaking about whether the decision to move on from Berube has anything to do with Matthews future, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic.

“None. Zero,” Chayka said.

It is clear that Chayka wants to make clear that this decision was best for the franchise, and not just for Matthews. Although best for the franchise may be what is best for Matthews. Still, he also made clear that the decision had no input from the players, according to Anna Dua of SportsNet.

“We did not solicit feedback from the players on the coaching staff at all,” the new general manager said.

Chayka also went on to speak about the Maple Leafs captain.

“We’ve had conversations. I think it was important for me to get a good lay of the land in terms of internal workings and what we had in place here… I wanted to make sure that we had all the knowledge we could possibly have so when we sit down we can have the best discussion,” Chayka said.

While the future of Matthews is uncertain, it is a decision that likely needs to be made before the NHL Draft. The Maple Leafs have the top pick, while Matthews has two years left on his contract.

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