Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews breaks silence on trade rumors

Things certainly aren't going well for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

They continue to trend downward, and they're running out of time to turn the ship around as the Olympic break and then the trade deadline approach.

It has brought some intense speculation to the floor: What is going to happen to Auston Matthews?

Could the Leafs consider trading their star center and captain?

Well, it seems like no question is off the table for Toronto at the moment.

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Matthews knows it, too, and was asked after Thursday night's loss to the Kraken what he thinks about the idea of the Maple Leafs as sellers this year.

“I mean, you kind of leave that up to the management," Matthews said, via Sportsnet. "For us, it’s about the next game. It’s about winning and starting to put ourselves in a much better position than we are now."

He's not wrong, on any front.

But right now, the Maple Leafs have dug themselves a big hole. 

Their 57 points and negative-12 goal differential place them last in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division. They are third-from-the-bottom in the entire conference.

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They also have more than half of their remaining games on the road, which doesn't help any hopes of climbing back up the standings.

Matthews probably isn't going anywhere in the middle of the season, but his future takes on a different tint. If he doesn't see the Maple Leafs as being competitive, maybe he wants out. Mitch Marner already left last season.

Toronto has to find a way to start turning things around, even if it doesn't mean a playoff spot this season.

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