Dubas wishes Matthews' play would draw more penalties

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas hopes superstar Auston Matthews can start drawing more penalties.

"He barely ever gets knocked down, and he doesn't really complain," Dubas said Monday, according to The Canadian Press. "He was obviously upset because we lost the game (against the Arizona Coyotes) on a play that was a missed call. But he's not one that complains. He just goes and does his thing and rolls.

"We wish the way that he played would draw more, but they don't deem that it does."

Dubas is referring to Matthews' outburst toward the referees March 10 after a missed call in overtime directly preceded the Coyotes' winner.

Matthews has drawn only nine penalties this season, which puts him 304th among all skaters. Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid leads the league with 44 calls.

Dubas said the state of the league's officiating was a main topic of discussion during the first day of this week's GM meetings in Florida but gave referees credit for the difficulty of their job.

"It's not perfect and they recognize that," Dubas said. "That's something that (NHL director of officiating) Stephen (Walkom) had said that was very clear. The game goes so fast. We're not perfect in management, coaching, playing."

Dubas added: "No one's ever happy with it. You're only unhappy with it. When you win the game and everything has gone fairly well, you don't really credit officiating, you credit your team. When things go poorly - and we've had some moments like that this year - it's easy to look at the officiating and say it has gotta be on them."

The Maple Leafs have drawn the fewest penalties in the league this season with 205. They've made the most of their opportunities, though, owning the NHL's best power-play conversion rate at 29.2%.

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