New future bet pins Toronto's Auston Matthews against Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl for who will score more goals last season.

The battle for next year's Rocket Richard trophy likely runs through two snipers in Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl and Toronto's Auston Matthews with the duo claiming the award in four of the last five years. For a limited time only, you can pin two of the games best goal scorers against each other with an all new bet courtesy of BetMGM, asking who will score more between Draisaitl or Matthews. 

The two are very tight in terms of numbers over recent years with Matthews winning several Rocket Richard awards while Draisaitl has been continually improving and benefitting from his elite teammates like Connor McDavid. 

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Leon Draisaitl – Last 5 Regular Seasons

Season | Games Played (GP) | Goals (G) | Goals per Game

2024‑25 | 71 | 52 | 0.73

2023‑24 | 81 | 41 | 0.51

2022‑23 | 80 | 52 | 0.65

2021‑22 | 80 | 55 | 0.69

2020‑21 | 56 | 31 | 0.55Total: 231 goals in 359 games

Auston Matthews 

2024‑25 | 67 | 43 | 0.64

2023‑24 | 81 | 69 | 0.85

2022‑23 | 74 | 40 | 0.54

2021‑22 | 73 | 60 | 0.82 

2020‑21 | 52 | 41 | 0.79 Total: 233 goals in 347 games

Lineup Changes

Matthews will have to adjust to not playing with superstar winger, Mitch Marner anymore while the Oilers are looking thinner than ever after their roster has been picked from after two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. These variables lead to a fairly even line for both sides with Draisaitl having the slight edge at -115 odds. 

This is likely because of the newest projected lines for the Oilers on opening night featuring Draisaitl on the top line with McDavid and Trent Frederic rather than splitting the two up and strengthen the second line. They will be putting more faith into Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in this case and will have Adam Henrique move into the third line center role while trying out AHL center Noah Philp in the fourth line. 

The Oilers lineup is younger this season with two new rookies joining the fold in Isaac Howard and Matthew Savoie. They also added Andrew Mangiapane for added depth but give this Oilers forward group a vastly different look and could mean the overall offense goes down but Draisaitl continuing to play with McDavid is a clear sign that his scoring potential isn't going anywhere. 

Toronto has relatively the same group with the biggest adjustment being Marner's departure but they have a 22-year-old Matthew Knies that is continually growing and improving alongside Matthews. Leafs winger Max Domi will be the only new addition to the top six as the second line of Bobby McMann, John Tavares and William Nylander will remain intact. This will hopefully keep Toronto's power play relatively afloat after finishing tied for the eighth-best power play with the Colorado Avalanche at 24.8 per cent. 

Health Concerns

While Auston Matthews has dealt with health issues in previous seasons, he has confirmed that he is entering this year at full strength. Despite occasional injuries, Matthews has still managed to outperform Leon Draisaitl in total goals over the past five seasons, doing so while playing 12 fewer games during that span. This underscores his elite scoring ability even when not playing a full schedule.

That said, Draisaitl has posted a higher goals-per-game average in two of the last three seasons, suggesting a potential shift in momentum toward the Oilers’ forward. If that trend continues and he remains healthy, he could take the edge in this ongoing scoring race.

Ultimately, durability will likely be the deciding factor. Both players have proven they can produce at an elite level when on the ice, but the one who can stay healthiest throughout the season may be the one who pulls ahead in the goal-scoring race.

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