Jamie McLennan

I would say, and I've made this point many times with all these core players here, they never went through a dark period.

This team put Austin Matthews on a pedestal the second he got here and said, you're in the playoffs.

Go show us what you got for nine years.

He never went through a dark period.

And now there's one really dark season, and it's incredibly dark.

And you're out?

That, I think he'd have to explain himself.

It's a fair point.

He may not care.

He may not care, but if we're talking legacy here, this is the captain of the Maple Leafs.

This is something... His words, I take a ton of pride in this.

If the first bad season, you're like, I'm out of here.

Okay, then I think...

That's going to affect his legacy, and I think he has to understand that.

Again, he may not care, but it's the first time they've missed the playoffs.

He didn't have to go through a three-year.

He's not Conor Bedard.

He's not Celebrini.

He's not sitting there saying, man, we're not even close.

He walked right in, and he was in the playoffs.