David Pagnotta

It's not, it should be pretty simple, but it's not.

And all of these decisions are going to have a bit of a domino effect.

You know, presumably you're going to see the first overall pick join their NHL club.

So in this case, the Leafs, not a guarantee, but you know, there's the sell factor there from the marketability of it.

There's the sell factor to your captain, that this is probably who you're going to play with, to the rest of the team.

The draft will affect how they approach any trades that they make, free agency, all of that.

So it's all roses right now that have covered up the soil, the manure that was put on it.

So it looks good.

It is the spring after all.

But does it smell good yet?

Yeah, right.

I don't know.

And everything tied to Austin Matthews, like Austin has not told them.

And I know there's reports out there.

I think some of the reporting has been a little misconstrued by the public.

I think the perception of the reporting has been kind of twisted a little bit publicly.

I could tell you with all certainty that

Austin wants to win in Toronto, wants to be here, but if this team isn't primed and positioned, just like Edmonton, if they're not primed and positioned to do that now, why are we wasting everybody's time?

If by July 15th, they have McKenna, they've rejigged the blue line, they're more mobile, they've found a legitimate 3C, the fourth line's been fixed, they understand where their goaltending is, they feel they can be a team that can compete in the playoffs, in the Atlantic, then everything is fine with Austin.

But if none of those boxes get checked beyond the first overall pick, then that's a different discussion.