Simmons Says – A look at Auston Matthews and his Maple Leaf captaincy

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The Maple Leafs are internally bullied by their captain, Auston Matthews, who seems to have little concept of what a captain in the National Hockey League should be.

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By his choice — not the choice of the Leafs media relations staff — Matthews refused his media responsibilities on Friday, not doing interviews in the morning of Mitch Marner’s return to Toronto and then not doing interviews post-game either.

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That wasn’t a team decision to have him avoid the press, which they have done on occasion. That was a Matthews decision.

It doesn’t sound like much from the outside — doing or not doing interviews — and really, it shouldn’t be much. But being a captain in Toronto of all hockey places comes with a certain set of obligations and protocols.

I can’t imagine a Mark Messier, a Sidney Crosby, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Darryl Sittler or a Mats Sundin avoiding microphones on the largest day of the regular season. Not even a Dion Phaneuf, who captained some of the worst Leafs teams in memory, would shirk those kind of responsibilities.

The Leafs front office has babied Matthews since naming him captain — and even before that — and the Leafs media relations staff has followed suit. Relationships between the two are not exactly as they should be.

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Big picture, that shouldn’t matter. Captains become captains for a reason. Stars get the big money for a reason. With the money and accolades come certain responsibilities and maybe even moreso with Matthews and his team fighting health issues in this challenging season.

Many Leafs — management, coaches and players — will tell you that Matthews is a terrific captain. They say that with a straight face. But from both the inside and the outside, there seems little evidence to support that belief.

Forward lines for Team Canada

Would you play rugged Tom Wilson on a line with Connor McDavid at the Olympics? I might. McDavid didn’t fit very well with the skilled Sam Reinhart at the 4 Nations tournament. So the challenge, among many, for Team Canada Olympic coach Jon Cooper is to find the right linemates for McDavid. It becomes an even larger issue if Cooper chooses to play a super line of Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini, the three players who trained together for a part of last summer … Zach Hyman, not on the Olympic team but a possible injury replacement, has scored 19 goals in his past 27 games with Edmonton. That’s not far behind league leader, MacKinnon, who has 21 in that time. If somehow Hyman was added to the Olympic team, he would play with McDavid. And could you see a line with McDavid, Hyman and Wilson? … One other thought: Why not play Crosby and MacKinnon on one line, McDavid and Celebrini on another? … There was basically one defenceman of quality available in the trade market after Quinn Hughes went to Minnesota: And how is it that Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon came away with Rasmus Andersson? Again. It seems either McCrimmon or Florida’s Bill Zito outmanage most of the rest of the GMs in the NHL. Jim Nill does nice work in Dallas where, over the past two seasons, he added Chris Tanev on defence (short term) and Mikko Rantanen up front (long term). Bill Guerin in Minnesota came away with Hughes this season. But a lot of GMs talk about making big moves and do little to improve their teams … The Maple Leafs gave up a first-round pick for Scott Laughton and the rather useful player was given 9:28 of ice time on Friday night. Leafs gave up a first-round pick and other parts for Brandon Carlo. That hasn’t worked out well .. I will say this about Mitch Marner: He is one of the finest hockey players I’ve ever had the pleasure of covering up close and one of the most unusual people I have ever known. The best players I’ve covered, in no real order, are: Kent Nilsson, Paul Reinhart, Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk, Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour, Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph, Sundin, Matthews, Marner and William Nylander … Why didn’t Anthony Stolarz get a minor-league start or two before returning to the Maple Leafs net?

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Don’t blame the Dodgers

The Los Ángeles Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball by spending more than anyone else. You know who is ruining baseball, if baseball is in fact being ruined? The 15 teams spending less than $150 million apiece in salaries — five of them under $100 million. They are virtually non-participants in the sport. That’s not the Dodgers’ fault … The Dodgers by the way, according to the fine baseball writer Bob Nightingale, signed Mookie Betts after Boston said no; signed Shohei Ohtani when the Angels wouldn’t match; signed Freddie Freeman after Atlanta let him walk; and signed Kyle Tucker, when two teams didn’t want to pay him … Here is what happens in leagues with salary caps: The difference between the highest and lowest salaried teams in the NHL this season is only $26 million. The difference in the NBA is $92 million. The difference in the NFL is $139 million. The difference in baseball: $341 million … Luis Aparicio was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, 12 years after his major- leaguer career ended. His election was applauded. This is 13 years since Omar Vizquel played shortstop in the bigs. Aparicio won nine Gold Gloves at shortstop. Vizquel, getting very little Hall support among voters, won 11. Aparicio was a .262 career hitter; Vizquel hit .272, with a higher on base percentage, a higher OPS and 200 more hits. Vizquel is the finest defensive shortstop in the American League over the past 20 years and has one year left on the Hall of Fame ballot. If he is to be elected, which he should be, it will certainly have to come from the veterans committee. He got only 17.8% of votes on this year’s ballot. You need 75% to get elected. Clearly, defence doesn’t get enough respect among voters … Without Bo Bichette, the Blue Jays still need one solid bat, one starting pitcher, one high-leverage relief pitcher and more affordable tickets … The CFL, as a league, produced record revenues in 2025, $10 million more than ever before. The Blue Jays, as a team, did about $100 million more than budgeted for in the 2025 season.

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Broncos need a Stidham breakout

Is Jarrett Stidham, starting for the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game any better than B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke? We’ll find out Sunday afternoon … And it is fun to see sort-of Canadian Alex Singleton, the former Calgary Stampeder, starring on defence for the Broncos … With Bo Nix healthy, I figured the Broncos were heading to the Super Bowl and he would be this year’s breakout star. Now the only way Denver can beat New England in the AFC final is if coach Sean Payton pulls a masterclass kind of day and Stidham does a Nick Arbuckle kind of thing … This is how long Matthew Stafford has been around: In his first big NFL season, he finished third in passing, ahead of Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton, and behind Tom Brady and Drew Brees. That was in 2011. Six of those guys make a living these days on television … Brandon Beane put together the Buffalo Bills roster that essentially cost coach Sean McDermott his job. So what happens? McDermott gets fired and Beane gets promoted to team president. Go figure … Also hard to figure is Mike McDaniel, the unusual former head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He had a chance to interview for the Bills and Cleveland Browns positions and chose to say no. Cleveland I get. Buffalo I don’t … The Pittsburgh Steelers have this fabulous history of Chuck Noll coaching, then Bill Cowher, then Mike Tomlin. And that’s it. And now Mike McCarthy? How does that happen? … Sorry to see Toronto’s Kevin Abrams get bounced by the New York Giants. He leaves after 27 years in the front office with two Super Bowl rings. He says he’s not ready for retirement … This should be a tough NFC final on Sunday. Seattle’s fabulous defence against the coaching mastermind, Sean McVay … Three former and one current CFL players — Keaton Bruggeling, Jay Dearborn, Shaq Murray-Lawrence and Luka Staikos will represent Canada in the bobsled at the upcoming Olympics. This isn’t necessarily new, turning football players into bobsled pushers. Jesse Lumsden took part in three Olympics for Canada … I love stories such as Darren Raddysh, the undrafted defenceman with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played parts of five years of junior hockey, was passed over in the NHL draft, played parts of six seasons in the AHL and this is his third full season in Tampa. And all of a sudden he has 42 points in 43 games for the Lightning. That’s 12 more points than anyone on the Maple Leafs defence.

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Too many Norris Trophy candidates

What a race this has become already for the Norris Trophy, as best defenceman in the NHL, with Cale Makar the clubhouse leader. But after him, there’s Hughes in Minnesota, Columbus star Zach Werenski, Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen, Detroit’s Mo Seider, Montreal’s Lane Hutson and Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer. There are only five spots on a Norris ballot: There’s probably more than 10 names to choose from … The Hart Trophy favourites remain MacKinnon, McDavid, Celebrini and now Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov. And just about 30 games to go … The hockey, from now until June, should be rather amazing and fascinating. The Olympics are in February. After that, there are about 25 games left for most teams and more teams to fight for fewer playoff spots than in recent memory. And then more than two months of Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s a lot to look forward to … The talented Dougie Hamilton is with his fourth NHL team in New Jersey and the discovery doesn’t seem to change: He’s 6-foot-6 and too often plays likes he’s 5-foot-6 … Life in this century: Leafs executive Shane Doan played 20 years in the NHL, scored 402 goals, and never made the money his son, Josh Doan, will be paid the next seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. The most money Shane made: Just more than $6 million a year. Josh will make just less than $49 million for the next seven seasons …. Brent Burns is 40 years old, has played in 972 straight NHL games and is plus-27 with the Colorado Avalanche, the highest mark of his career. He may never retire … Hard to believe, but just four years ago, Jonathan Huberdeau had 115 points in a season. Honest … Three of the five highest goal-scoring American players in the NHL — Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield and Alex DeBrincat — are not on Guerin’s U.S. Olympic team. Neither is the Montreal hotshot on defence, Hutson. If the Americans have trouble scoring goals in Milan, you’ll understand why and Guerin will certainly hear about it … Victor Hedman hasn’t played since Dec. 9 after suffering an elbow injury and undergoing surgery. Team Sweden needs a healthy Hedman two weeks from now. The men’s hockey tournament in Milan begins on Feb. 11. Sweden does have Rasmus Dahlin and Gus Forsling on defence but it does need what Hedman brings in play and leadership … The 10 best goaltenders I’ve ever seen, in no particular order: Belfour, Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Glenn Hall, Ken Dryden, Bernie Parent, Henrik Lundqvist, Grant Fuhr and Tony Esposito … Close to the top 10: Joseph, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Terry Sawchuk, Carey Price, Johnny Bower and Roberto Luongo … Last Sunday, I informed you that my X social media account had been hacked. The @simmonssteve account is now back working after much consternation and online support from X. Only advice I’ll pass on: If anyone asks you to vote for anything online, don’t do it … As someone who has covered 18 Olympic Games, 10 of them winter, I’m offended that the once great Washington Post has chosen not to send any reporters to Milan, even after paying $80,000 for housing during the Games … The late kids football legend, Pop Ivy, would have turned 109 today … Happy birthday to Milt Stegall (56), Scott Milanovich (53), Chris Chelios (64), Rick Bowness (71), Esa Tikkanen (63), Tim Biakabutuka (52), Balor Moore (75), Rob Dibble (62), Whit Merrifield (37), Honky Tonk Man (73) and Carl Eller (86) … And hey, whatever became of Victor Cruz?

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