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Ferraro on Matthews' significant impact, his future in Toronto and what's next for the Maple Leafs
16 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What insights does Ray Ferraro provide about the Maple Leafs' recent performance?
All right, let's bring in Ray Ferraro joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. There he is. What's happening, Ray?
Again, it's like 132 weeks in a row. I come in here and I'm like, I'm trying to catch up. Like, what are we talking about? I get it's now the salad bar. There's a lack of protection over the food now. Now there is. There wasn't.
No, I'm just going to sum this up. I am a co-project manager. For the salad bar at a grocery store in Canada. And it's the best salad bar in Canada. When you come to Toronto, if you're here for the playoffs. Listen to what I just said.
If you're here for the playoffs. That's a funny one. That is funny. I've got to slap myself.
I can't believe I just said that. I'll take you there. But that's all you need to know. I'm a co-project manager of the glass tilts at the salad bar.
How terrifying is that?
It's scary. And I just was going to say, that title on a business card, could you imagine getting handed that? And go, jeez, what the hell just happened to this place? I will tell you, without question, it scarred me for life. This was over 20 years ago with a salad bar. I've never looked at a salad bar the same. This little kid was like, I don't know, six or seven years old.
He was at the salad bar and he's put like celery and cheese and whatever the hell else he was putting on there. He takes a piece of pineapple and puts it in his mouth. He eats it and takes it out and puts it back and puts it back. That's this guy. I cannot eat a salad bar.
I got one worse for you. On a cruise ship, a lady had her little lap dog, and she let the little dog lean in and start chewing away at some of the food. She pulled him back, and somebody behind her goes, I don't think that's allowed. She goes, oh, mind your own business. The little chihuahua was just chewing on the food and just... That's why you need awnings.
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Chapter 2: How is Auston Matthews' role crucial to the team's future?
It is so critical. that if he's back and that he's in a mental state, that he's happy to be back, that he's enthusiastic. Like, there seems to be two different Matthews. Like, the Matthews we see publicly and the one that the guys seem to like so much. Right? We don't see that. He's very guarded in that, and that's totally his right to be that way. But there...
There has to be an energy to him because that seeps out more than if a third-line left winger has a great energy. That can only impact so much.
Chapter 3: How do player perks influence free agent decisions?
He would impact just about everything. But if you look at that, say he comes back, he's in great spirit, great health, ready to go. The holes on their team are pretty obvious, and there's not one. So the quick turnaround part, like, how are you going to do that? There are no free agents. How are you going to make deals that plug these holes without creating another hole?
That's where the real challenge starts for those that think they can flip this in six months.
Absolutely. And furthermore, are you just trying to get back into the playoffs or are you trying to win a Stanley Cup? Again, those are two different objectives. 98 points is different than we're ready to actually win. I thought Brad Marchand had a great quote today where he said, You either win the Stanley Cup or you don't. You either win it or you lose it.
In other words, who cares if we just snuck into the playoffs and lost in the first round? That's not good enough for us. And that's a mentality that needs to permeate through every group. But it's a special mentality to have. And it's not one that I think a coach can change, a GM can change. I heard Rick Bonas and I heard Tom McClellan last night
Like, it's the core players, the five, six, seven guys, the leaders, the older guys, they are who they are. They are what they are. And they're going to drive everything, right? Right.
You know what I heard out of both of those guys last night? And I think more and more I believe this, is that the league is so close. If your team does not have a competitive drive, a competitive spirit, a fight, it doesn't matter how good you are, you're not going to win. And so Detroit's got some really nice players. I did four other games down the stretch.
Of the things that they miss is a competitive spirit. They miss a fight. You remember the old Red Wings? You know, the game would be going along and then... You know, Joey Kosher would kind of wander around and you'd be like, oh, that's different. Or Darren McCarty and Draper and Maltby, that grind line, they'd change things. Like there was a competitive spirit to them.
And when I look at the Leafs, one of the things that I see that's not there is that. And that's one thing that Florida has by the bucketful, is they've got competitive spirit.
It's such an important point to make that I think gets lost a lot. It's a game. It's the same game when you were 10 as you are when you're 30. Thank you very much. It's a game. In the game, you earn it. You deserve it. Sometimes the breaks don't go your way. Sometimes you don't have the talent.
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Chapter 4: What impact does team management have on player decisions and morale?
Okay, I guess we're all going for dinner. You know, the guy on the fourth line is not like, ah, I'm not going to that. He's like, I got to be there, of course. I'm going. Absolutely, where are we going? Like, let's do it. That's the way it works, man.
And the coaches that are pissed off in the last couple days, guys, that's exactly what Bones was saying the other night. He's like, it got to hurt to lose. And he felt like there was not enough guys that were pissed off that they lost. And he said, that's why we're out of the playoffs. Rick Bone has signed an extension today. Yes, he did. He's not going anywhere.
He's going to help change that culture. And it'll be interesting to see what he has to say behind the scenes to see who's actually wearing a jersey for them next year and who's not. Because he's probably going to point out to Don Waddell, there's probably one or two guys that he saw something that he wouldn't have expected.
Now, how about, I will say about last night, Bones looked like he couldn't even put a sentence together. He was so mad. And like it was like I'm like, oh, my God, his head is literally going to blow off. And I wouldn't have wanted to be Todd McClellan's tie. I don't know if you notice he didn't do it. He didn't have his tie on when he did it.
That tie must have been ripped off with a force of like a gale. Like he was he looked like he was going to, I don't know, strangle a word. He was furious. And I was like, holy, those guys have had it.
Yeah, that's a long grind, man. And they were, like, Bonus wasn't even there all year. You know, like, he showed up halfway through the party. And, you know, McClellan obviously was there for the whole thing and was there last year as well. But it's, you know, we got the Stanley Cup playoffs here, right? Do you have, everyone's asking, everyone wants to know, like,
Who's going to be the last two teams standing? I don't really have a great read on it. Do you have a read on this, east and west, and where it could end up landing in the end?
No, you know what? I'll stick with what I had at the start of the year, which was Tampa and Colorado, only because I don't want to pick 25 different teams. But as I was going through the series in the first round, I'm like, I'm either going to get seven of these right, or I'm going to get crushed. Like, the point difference in most of the series doesn't matter.
Like, Philly and Pittsburgh, like, what does it matter? Philly's playing great. You could say, oh, Pittsburgh's the favorite, but really, are they? Like, Buffalo and Boston. I know Boston's, you know, the first wild card, but, like, would it be like this immense world-beating upset if they won?
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