V5 ANA and BOG
Joined: Jan. 2017
Posts: 1,886
Likes: 691
I think there's certain guys who just won't get traded, regardless of the return. Guys like Mcdavid, Crosby, Mackinnon, Matthews, Eichel come to mind. They just mean too much to their current franchises to be traded.
Plus, the teams would demand such a high return that it simply wouldn't work. Is this fair for Matthews? Maybe. As you said, it's up for debate since almost no one talks about Matthews as a guy who could be traded, so his trade value is ill-defined. The Leafs certainly wouldn't take it, they'd want a lot more.