Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled new GM John Chayka to a… ahem… lukewarm response from the team’s fanbase.

To his credit, Chayka said all the right things and answered every question addressed to him. He talked about rebuilding the team’s culture, restructuring their roster and ultimately woo’ing team captain Auston Matthews to stick around long-term.

Today, the team’s captain says he isn’t sure he’s on board.

According to a report from NHL insider Chris Johnston, Matthews says he “isn’t sure” that he’ll return to Toronto for next season. This, despite having two more years left on his contract.

From Johnston’s report for The Athletic today:

“Matthews has two years remaining on his contract, but still isn’t sure if he’ll be back in Toronto in the fall, according to league sources.”

Yikes…

The sad truth is though that the Leafs HAD to have seen this coming.

Canadian fans have seen an exodus of top American talent in recent years with Matthew Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes both abandoning their teams. Perhaps the writing was on the wall last offseason though with Mitch Marner ditching Toronto at the first opportunity.

With a likely rebuild on the way and with Matthews in the prime of his career, do you really blame the guy for having second thoughts? Whatever the case, it’s on Chayka, Mats Sundin and the new look Leafs’ front-office to build a team around him worth sticking around for.

“We’re going to get together in the next couple weeks and spend some time,” Chayka said about Matthews after Monday’s introductory news conference. “I think Auston deserves some answers about where we’re at and where we’re headed, and (I’ll) give him a forum to provide feedback and ask questions and then take it from there.”

Thoughts, Leafs fans?