The Maple Leafs (32-30-13) entered Wednesday 11 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining. Matthews was selected by the Maple Leafs with the No. 1 pick at the 2016 NHL Draft and since that time leads all players with 428 goals in 689 games.
“They’re going to have to have deep conversations with Auston Matthews and his agent, Judd Moldaver, to get a sense as to what his plans are and what he’s thinking, and you have to lay out a vision,” Pronger told co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke. “Whoever comes in there is going to have to lay out a vision to figure out how you’re going to reimagine the team and how quickly you can do that, albeit without first-round picks currently.
“They’ve been trying to get this thing over the finish line and moving prospects and picks over the last 5-6 years as this core has now gotten into their prime, into their window, and they just haven’t been able to get it done. Whoever goes in there is going to really have to button this thing up quickly and figure out what is (Matthews) going to want, (and) what about (William) Nylander? All the guys that have no-move clauses, you’re going to have to have conversations with them to figure out what the expectation is for the team. You may have to have a few hard conversations and be like, ‘We need to move off you,’ if that is the plan. This thing can go in three or four different directions based on some of those conversations, but whoever goes in there is going to have those very quickly.”
Pronger also discussed three of his former teams -- the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks.
He talked about the Blues (31-31-11) finally getting healthy and having quality goaltending as reasons why they’ve played their way back into the playoff race in the Western Conference and also touched on why the Flyers (37-25-12) still are alive in the East.
The Ducks (41-28-5) are first in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, but Pronger said he’s not quite ready to label them a “really good team.” However, he likes where things are headed.
“They are riverboat gamblers still and they have yet to figure out how to really lock it in and play a 2-1 hockey game, a 1-0 hockey game,” Pronger said. “They’re young, they’re exciting. You look at their youth movement, Beckett Sennecke has had a fantastic year, Leo Carlsson is a stud, Cutter Gauthier has had an incredible year. The one guy who has struggled is Mason McTavish. He’s having very much a down year; fourth line, scratched. It’ll be interesting how that dynamic plays out.
“I think the future is bright there. I’m not quite certain that they’re over that hump yet. I think they’ve got a little more development to go and it’s part of the learning curve, but they’re gaining valuable experience now. By all accounts they’re going to make the playoffs, and it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.”
