Auston Matthews: The Maple Leafs' Latest Savior

Wayne Gretzky, the greatest center of all time, had a simple explanation for his brilliance:

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

It was an efficient assessment of how his vision and creativity merged to become The Great One.

Not bad for a kid who grew up in Brantford, Ontario.

That's the province, obviously, that hosts those lovable losers in Toronto.

 

That little Swede, incidentally, happens to be William Nylander.

Contrary to Cherry's signature jingoism, dude's a vital component in the Leafs' long-needed rebuild, and he's projected to thrive when paired up front with yet another non-Ontarian.

An American from Arizona, no less.

Auston Matthews is the most-hyped arrival in the NHL draft since ... well ... since each successive arrival of four straight first overalls who now wear Oil colors.

Yes. Yes, it did.

Because Matthews plays as Gretzky suggested. He's already proven it in a decent professional hockey league.

Virtually an entire province -- Ottawa's a holdout -- will be expecting it.

And that includes Cherry. Just don't expect him to don a Stars-&-Stripes jacket. Yet.