Chris Pronger calls out Toronto Maple Leafs “bigger issues” after Radko Gudas hit on Auston Matthews

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews will miss the remainder of the regular season after sustaining a grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion in his left leg following a knee-on-knee collision with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas. What caught many off guard including Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger after the play was that no Maple Leafs player confronted Gudas as Matthews lay in pain.

That lack of response became the focus of Pronger’s comments this week on the Nasty Knuckles podcast. Watching Gudas look around expecting retaliation that never came, Pronger said he found himself laughing at the absurdity of it all and wondering what it says about the Maple Leafs as a team.

“If there was a camera on me, they would have thought I was a sick man,” Pronger said. “Because I started laughing when I saw the hit, because I looked at all the players. And I’m looking at, I’m literally staring at Gudas right here as I’m looking at the camera. I’m staring right at it, I see it happen, and I’m looking, and he’s like looking around, he’s looking around, knowing, okay, somebody’s coming. And they all just, I’m like, what are we doing here, guys?”

None of Toronto’s other four skaters on the ice including forwards William Nylander and rookie Easton Cowan, and defensemen Morgan Rielly and Carlo, confronted Gudas while their captain was writhing in pain on the ice.

“And the worst part, not only did they not respond in that regard, they didn’t even go over and check on him,” Pronger continued. “Yeah, they’re all so far away. The trainer was there, and they were gone. They didn’t even check on him. I’m like, wow, this is interesting.”

The incident occurred at 15:47 of the second period during Toronto’s 6-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena on Mar. 12. Matthews crumpled to the ice when he tried to sidestep the hit in the slot from Gudas, who was assessed a major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct.

Gudas charged Matthews in front of the crease and led with his knee leaving the Maple Leafs captain in visible agony on the ice. Matthews was helped off the ice by a trainer and teammate Brandon Carlo putting minimal weight on his left leg.

There is ‘something bigger’ going on with the Maple Leafs

Chris Pronger believes the incident revealed fundamental problems with the Maple Leafs that go far beyond one moment of hesitation.

“Well, that’s the huge $64 million question. What do they do?” Pronger asked. “Do they blow it up? Do they fire everybody again? Do they add on the fringes? Do they trade one or two guys? Ultimately, that’s up to ownership. That’s an ownership decision of what direction do you want to take this. Because clearly, it’s going in the wrong direction.”

The Hall of Famer emphasized that this wasn’t an isolated incident for Toronto.

“And that’s not the first time something like that has happened where nothing has happened,” Pronger said. “And it’s not like, you guys know Chief [Berube], it’s not like he’s not going in there going like, guys, you’ve got to protect one another. You’ve got to be together… There’s something bigger going on there that we don’t know about.”

Matthews underwent MCL knee repair surgery on Mar. 19 with the Maple Leafs announcing that he faces a recovery timeline of approximately 12 weeks. He is expected to be ready for training camp next season.