Toronto Maple Leafs superstar center Auston Matthews won his third Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy in 2023-24 with an astonishing 69 goal total. In THN's Stanley Cup Playoffs edition, writer Michael Traikos explored just how much better Matthews can get when it comes to his NHL scoring prowess.
Auston MatthewsThrowing hats onto the ice after a player scores his third goal in a game is one of hockey’s oldest and most popular traditions. For Toronto Maple Leafs fans, it’s also become one of the most expensive.
You can mostly blame Auston Matthews for that.
As of mid-March – and by the end of the 2023-24 season – the Leafs had recorded nine hat tricks. And that total led the league this season. Meanwhile, Matthews, who began the season with back-to-back three-goal games, was responsible for six of those hat tricks. That’s a lot of goals. It’s also a lot of hats, giving new meaning to “hat giveaway” night.
“It feels like every couple of games there’s a hat trick coming,” said teammate William Nylander. “It’s insane.”
That’s hardly hyperbole. Matthews had two hat tricks in October, one in November, one in January and two in February. After Matthews recorded his sixth hat trick in a 9-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks Feb. 17 – his second hatty in back-to-back games –the home crowd once again showered the ice with hats. Then they showered the 26-year-old with “M-V-P” chants.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” said then-Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, shaking his head.
Ridiculous might be a more appropriate way to describe how easily and frequently the goals came for Matthews in 2023-24.
While the league has been spoiled by the scoring exploits of Alex Ovechkin for the past two decades, what Matthews has done since he stepped onto the ice as a rookie, when he potted four goals in his NHL debut, is on another level. Since 2016-17, no one has scored as much as Matthews. No one has come even close. That includes Ovechkin, who in his first seven years in the league had 339 goals in 553 games. As of mid-March, Matthews had 354 goals in 546 games.
With 55 goals in 65 games this year, Matthews was on pace for 68.5 goals. And he finished the year with 69. That’s a total Ovechkin has never achieved. No player in the post-lockout era has.
“That’s just been my goal, to be consistent night in and night out,” said Matthews on a Hockey Night in Canada interview after scoring his 13th career hat trick. “I know for us and myself, the main focus is on the team always and putting wins together and making sure we’re playing well in all three zones and, obviously, taking care of business.”
Spoken like a true MVP. And while the Hart Trophy was still up for debate – for all the goals he’s scored, Matthews hasn’t been the most prolific playmaker – the Rocket Richard Trophy has been his since January, and he wound up winning his third Rocket Richard Trophy. The only question going forward is how many goals he’ll end up with as he settles into his prime. Will Matthews score 60 again, like he did in 2021-22? Or can he become the first player in 32 years to join the 70 club next season? Is that even possible in today’s era of 6-foot-6 goalies and playing a 200-foot game?
“He has that chance,” said former Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness at the All-Star Weekend in Toronto. “Everybody knows how lethal his shot is, but his ability to score quickly from certain areas and catch guys by surprise is why he is one of the best players in the league.”
Added Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger: “First, I think it’s awesome. It’d be like if guys in baseball started hitting 70 home runs again.”
Hockey’s version of the steroid era (minus the steroids) was way back in 1992-93, when Alex Mogilny and Teemu Selanne tied for the goal-scoring lead with 76 goals. That same year, Mario Lemieux scored 69 goals, despite being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and playing in just 60 games. Two other players reached the 60-goal mark. Another nine had 50 or more goals.
It was a high-scoring time for the NHL, that’s for sure. Which makes what Matthews is doing these days so special. This isn’t the early ’90s. Nor is it the post-lockout parade of power plays.
“The way he plays the game and how he sees the ice...he has the release, he has the hockey IQ, and he has the confidence,” Bowness said. “He’s a natural goal-scorer. It’s in the net before you can blink.”
What makes Matthews so hard to defend? Like Ovechkin, he’s got a weapon for a shot. But unlike Ovechkin, who has probably scored more one-timers than any other player in the history of the NHL, Matthews doesn’t rely on just one thing. He scores from all angles and areas on the ice, with all types of shots. He’s big and strong but with a set of hands that should belong to someone half his size. He shields the puck from defenders but also hounds the puck when on defense.
“He’s tough to handle,” said Columbus captain Boone Jenner. “It’s tough to get offense going against him. And then he has that finishing ability to be on the pace he is on.”
Even when he misses, said Bowness, it’s a thing of beauty: “It might not go in, but it’s in the right spot. A lot of guys bury their head and put it in the middle of the goalie’s stomach. He knows where to put the puck. He might miss by an inch or two, but it’s going in the right area.”
Added Oettinger: “As a goalie, he’s a nightmare. One of those guys who gets in on a 2-on-1 in a game and you think, ‘Oh s---.’ Fans love it. It’s great for the league.”
This is an excerpt from Michael Traikos' major feature in THN's 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs special edition, in which Maple Leafs phenom Auston Matthews' league-best goal production of 69 goals this past season was put under the microscope. Here's THN's Adam Proteau with more on Matthews:
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