Report: Babcock, Matthews to 'air things out' in Arizona

Mike Babcock is doing what he can to ensure the relationship between him and his franchise cornerstone is where it needs to be after Toronto’s second-round exit to the Bruins.

Hockey Night in Canada reported that Mike Babcock flew to Arizona to meet and talk with Auston Matthews in an attempt to clear any up any potential bad blood between the two after rumours surfaced last month of a rift between coach and player.

There was apparently more truth to that story than most believed.

“The expectation is the two of them are going to talk or have talked this weekend as they try to air things out and fix things between them,” Elliotte Friedman said during Hockey Night’s “Headlines” segment on Saturday.

Nick Kypreos first mentioned a potential rift between Babcock and Matthews after Toronto’s Game 7 loss to the Bruins in the opening round. Both denied reports the Maple Leafs head coach “lost” his star during the series, with Babcock implying some sort of media magic was behind the speculation.

”I said, ‘What’s going on?”’ Babcock told reporters of his conversation with Matthews. ”It’s interesting in Toronto, you (media) do such a good job. You’re everywhere. You’re under the bench, you’re in the crack in the door, you’re in the car, you’re in the parking lot. You’re everywhere, and any time anybody does anything there’s a big story,” Babcock said.

Matthews backed his coach’s sentiments when asked of any feud.

”I don’t know what that’s all about,” he said. ”Our relationship’s fine. Obviously, you guys can speculate all you want, but I think it’s pointless.”

Kypreos stuck with his theory that this trip was about more than soaking in the Arizona sun.

“It is common for star players sometimes to battle with their coaches for things such as ice time,” he said during intermission of the Penguins-Capitals game on Saturday. “But what isn’t that common is a week after [exit meetings]. It’s clear that this is a priority for Babcock, who’s hoping to smooth things out so come training camp, everyone’s on the same page.”

Matthews posted two points in seven games against the Bruins while playing just over 17 minutes per night — nearly a minute less than his regular season average of 18:08.