'There was a lot of noise': Elliotte Friedman directly addresses Auston Matthews trade rumours

The trade deadline has come and gone, and the floundering Maple Leafs have made several moves reminiscent of a team that does not expect to be playing playoff hockey.

The Maple Leafs are set to miss the postseason for what would be the first time since 2016, and they traded Bobby McMann to the Seattle Kraken and also traded Scott Laughton, who they picked up at last year's deadline from the Philadelphia Flyers, to the Los Angeles Kings.

But there were also some rumours that captain Auston Matthews could potentially be on the trade block. He's still with the Leafs now that the deadline is over, but what were the chances of him being moved?

Per NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman, there wasn't much of a chance of Matthews being traded, but that could be explored again during the summer.

Based on the report from Friedman, it looks like there could be some discussions between Matthews' camp and Leafs GM Brad Treliving about his long-term future with the team.

They may eventually come to the conclusion that their time together has run its course and that new arrangements are needed for both parties, or they could choose to try and give it one more go in what would be his third year with the "C" on his sweater.

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