EA teases Auston Matthews bring on the cover for the third time on X

Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews continued his torrid goal scoring pace on Thursday notching his league-leading fourth hat trick of the season, bringing him to a total of 37 goals and 54 points in 42 games.

His third goal of the night prompted this post from EA SPORTS NHL on X:

The responses to Matthews potentially becoming the first three-time cover athlete ranged from support to ridicule to questions over why other players have not yet been on the cover.

Matthews has already been on the cover of NHL 20 and NHL 22, joining Alex Ovechkin (NHL 07, NHL 21) and Jonathan Toews (NHL 11, NHL 16) as the only other players to be featured on the cover twice. Patrick Kane was on the cover of NHL 10 and was intended to appear alongside his teammate Toews on the cover of NHL 16 but was removed due to sexual assault allegations.

Whether or not the 26-year-old Matthews will end up being on the cover for three of the last six games remains up to EA, but it appears he is once again in the conversation.