Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews took responsibility for the struggles of his team during locker-room clean-out day on Thursday.

The morning after the Leafs put the finishing touches on a disastrous season, Matthews spoke with reporters for the first time since his season ended prematurely at the hands of a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas. Given how much had transpired in the time since the hit heard around the world and the fact that he had not spoken since, there was ample anticipation of what was on the captain’s mind.

“This was a tough year. It was a frustrating year. We didn’t meet the goals or the expectations that we set out at the start,” he said. “Ultimately, that’s on me. That’s on us as players. We’re the ones that have to go out there and compete and play the game.  We didn’t do that well enough this year, consistently enough this year to put ourselves in a better spot.”

Matthews walked into the scrum with a knee brace on, which signalled his recovery was progressing in the right direction. When asked by reporters how his recovery was going, he said he expects this summer to be a normal one and that he will be good to go for next season.

The play that injured him became a point of contention by fans, given that the Leafs players on the ice did not respond to Gudas taking out their captain. Matthews referred to it as an unfortunate play and credited his team for responding in the third period.

“ I think you probably know how I feel about that,” he laughed. “ Up until a couple days ago, I just got off crutches, so I didn’t think I was gonna be standing here today. It’s going well so far. Him reaching out, that’s kind of a personal conversation and whatnot. But like I said, I think you know how I feel about the hit.”

This season marks the first time in the Matthews era that his team failed to qualify for the playoffs. With the fact that they fell down the standings this fast and this suddenly, fans became concerned about whether the captain would want to abandon ship at the first sign of trouble.

Matthews didn’t tip his hand on where his head was at, stating that he will keep the conversations private about what will make him feel confident to say and if he’s on board with a retool or rebuild.

“ I believe in the guys in this room and the people that we have here,” he said.  ”We’re gonna hire new leadership and management, there’s gonna be changes. That’s just the way things go.  I think we’re all hopeful that this is kind of like a one-off. See it happen to a couple of teams,  Boston’s obviously the latest example.  You kind of hope that you can bounce back and be in a better situation than we were this year.”

Matthews felt that the main thing that held the Leafs back was the lack of consistency in putting together a strong collective performance for a sustained period of time. He admitted that it took him a while after the Olympics ended to get back into a groove, coming off an emotional high of winning gold for Team USA.

With GM Brad Treliving being fired and more people expected to lose their jobs in the weeks ahead, Matthews made clear that these changes fall on him and the players for failing to deliver on their goals.

“ We love our fans and we appreciate our fans. We understand their frustration, we wear that alongside them.  Everybody here wants to win, wants to do their part, to help the team win,” he said. “ I love being the captain of this team. I think it’s an incredible honour to wake up every day and wear this jersey.  That’s not lost on me, even despite the circumstances and the way that the season went.”

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