John Chayka has a surprising plan for Auston Matthews

Auston Matthews sits at the center of a Toronto Maple Leafs cap plan built entirely around 2028.

That's the read hockey analyst Chris McCluskey put out this week, and the numbers line up with it.

Matthews carries a cap hit of 13,250,000, the fifth highest for any forward in the league right now.

Nylander sits at 11,500,000. Per McCluskey's breakdown, both deals land in the same free agent class as nine other names on the roster.

Easton Cowan is part of that group too. He's 21, with 29 points in 66 games this season.

So is Colton Sissons, brought in at a modest 2,857,142 cap hit rather than anything long term.

None of it locks Toronto in. That's the whole idea, and it's hard to argue with the logic.

Jim Hiller inherits a last-place roster and a growing losing streak

None of it is happening in a vacuum, either. Toronto just finished 32-36-14, dead last in the Atlantic Division.

The goal differential tells the story on its own. Minus-46, worst mark in the division by a wide margin.

They're mired in a seven game losing streak, 2-7-1 over the last ten, capped by a 1-3 loss at Ottawa.

Jim Hiller took over behind the bench in June. He inherits this exact mess, roster flexibility and all.

Building cap space around a plan is one thing. Winning enough games to make Matthews want to stay past 2028 is another thing entirely.

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Think of it like clearing your calendar for a big decision you haven't actually made yet. Smart, sure, but it doesn't guarantee the outcome you want.

It's a defensible strategy on paper, giving Toronto the runway to either re-sign its core or pivot hard if Matthews walks.

But is stacking short deals actually a plan, or just an admission that nobody's sure what this roster looks like in three years?

Cowan's growth matters here too. If he keeps trending toward a bigger role, he becomes part of the answer instead of just cap filler.

For now, Toronto has bought itself options. Whether that flexibility turns into contention or just a longer rebuild is the part nobody can answer yet.

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