Would the Maple Leafs Really Trade Auston Matthews to the Sharks?
This one falls firmly into the “probably not happening, but kind of fascinating to think about” category.
There’s starting to be more chatter around what the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to do with Auston Matthews long-term. The fact that Matthews reportedly wants to wait until July before making any big decisions about his future has naturally kicked the rumour machine into overdrive. And whenever there’s smoke around a superstar, hockey fans immediately start imagining blockbuster trades.
Wild rumour: the Maple Leafs trade Matthews to the Sharks.
So here’s the wild one making the rounds: what if the Maple Leafs moved Matthews to the San Jose Sharks? At first glance, it sounds silly. Matthews is still one of the best goal scorers on the planet and the face of the franchise. Teams don’t just trade players like that unless something has seriously gone sideways. But if Toronto’s new leadership group — with John Chayka and Mats Sundin now involved — decides the current core has peaked, then suddenly the idea becomes at least worth talking about.
And San Jose kind of makes sense. The Sharks already have important connections to Matthews through former Maple Leafs Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, two players who mentored him early in his career. San Jose also has a young core that’s beginning to emerge, and adding Matthews would instantly give the franchise a superstar centrepiece to build around.
For the Maple Leafs to move Matthews, the return would have to be huge.
Of course, if Toronto ever considered this kind of move, the return would have to be enormous.
The hypothetical package being floated around would include the Sharks’ second-overall pick in 2026, San Jose’s 2027 first-round pick, and top defence prospect Sam Dickinson. That’s the kind of return that at least forces Toronto to listen.
And here’s where it gets even more interesting. If the Maple Leafs already owned the first-overall pick and selected Gavin McKenna, they could then use San Jose’s second-overall pick to grab defenceman Chase Reid. Suddenly, Toronto would walk out of the draft with two elite young building blocks and the foundation of a full-scale rebuild almost overnight.
Would Maple Leafs fans survive trading Matthews? Maybe not calmly.
But if the Maple Leafs ever decided to completely reset the franchise timeline, this is probably the kind of massive swing it would take. Right now it’s just wild speculation. But in hockey, strange ideas have a way of hanging around longer than expected.