Shawn Matthias wants to be a Maple Leaf for the long haul
Shawn Matthias's contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs was met with relative accordance among fans.
But while a chunk were eager to have a versatile, all-situations, potential 20-goal scorer join the club at a reasonable dollar, many just saw a second-round pick coming back before early March.
Thing is, Matthias doesn't see himself as bait.
"Every day I'm a Leaf I'm going to be pumped up and do what I can for the Toronto Maple Leafs," Matthias said in phone interview with Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "Hopefully it's for a lot longer than what I’m signed for, but that's out of my control.
"I've got to prove to them that I belong here and show them that I really do care about being with this organization and how badly I want it.
"That's my goal."
It'll be a tall task. The Maple Leafs are expected to toil in the lower portion of the league standings. And after Toronto's decision-making nucleus shrewdly operated on the draft floor in June, fans - perhaps more than ever before - are willing to support a continuing proliferation of draft picks and prospects.
Even if Matthias is an Ontario boy.