The idea that the Toronto Maple Leafs can't rebuild because they have Auston Matthews is insane.
Although Matthews is arugbably the greatest player to ever play for the Leafs and a top-10 player in the world, he can't single-handedly guide this team to a Stanley Cup. Also, if you look at the past nine years when the team around him was way better, he couldn't get it done then either.
If you're building a hockey team, you obviously want Matthews on your roster, but if you're afraid to blow up the team around him because he may want to leave in two years, that's just bad management.
Everyone already loves Matthews (maybe we hate him right now a little bit after he won gold with Team USA), but if he wants to be treated like a god for the rest of his life, he should understand the team needs a rebuild. He can take the easy way out and request a trade to a contender or go sign in San Jose to play with Macklin Celebrini, or he can do what every other great hockey player does, and win where he was drafted.
Whether it's Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin, Nathan Mackinnon, Patrick Kane or Anze Kopitar, they all won with the team that drafted them and stayed with the organization for the majority of their career. Whether or not they ever win again with their franchises is irrelevant because they will always be considered loyal and great leaders who guided their team to a championship after being drafted there.
Connor McDavid is probably going through this same exercise too. He's at least done everything in his power to get his team to a Stanley Cup Final and has narrowly lost, while Matthews hasn't even sniffed a Conference Finals apperance.
Leafs need to make Matthews happy and blow this roster up
If the Leafs want to do what's best for Matthews, they shouldn't continue to go "all-in". First of all, they don't have any real assets to acquire players and the team isn't any good. Matthews and Nylander are the only good forwards, the team's defense is broken and who knows if Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll are great goaltenders long-term.
If Matthews wants to stay in Toronto and win, he should go tell management to blow this roster up and try to get into the top-five in the draft. If they fall short and give the No. 6 overall draft pick to the Boston Bruins, so be it, but they need to do everything they can to get into the draft lottery and draft a young and exciting player.
From there, the team needs a full reset next year and they can show Matthews that they can get back to their winning ways as his contract expires in 2027.
The Leafs have made the playoffs for nine straight years, more than anyone in the NHL, and don't have any ring to show for it. As a result, it's time to blow this roster up and try to retool as quickly as possible, so Matthews doesn't walk away in 2027.