"You guys know Auston, I don't know how long he's been here [in Toronto] now, but [it feels like] he's been here literally the whole time with me," Lowry said prior to Sunday's game. "I respect the hell out of Auston, and we have a mutual relationship." "You know I had to pay the tribute to my city," Lowry said. "I'm a Maple Leafs guy, and Auston, that's a great jersey. I appreciate him and I wanted to show support for the city."
Fletcher had already been putting in work for the Maple Leafs in the post-Ballard era with the drastic franchise changing move that brought Doug Gilmour from Calgary, a Leafs trade that seemed to follow in the path of the Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar trade the Jays made a couple years earlier that would be the foundation for their World Series success.